Panthers (7-1-2 16P) vs Lightning (9-1-1 19P)
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: BB&T Center, Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: FOX Sports Florida, SUN Sports
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 640 WMEN (PB), 1370 WAXE (TC), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #FlaPanthers, #GoBolts, #FLAvsTBL, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Raw Charge
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 1 of 8
- LAST MEETING: @TBL 6, FLA 1 – (Recap) – 12/23/2019
- NEXT MEETING: February 13, 2021
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Bobrovsky (4-0-1 .899/ 3.07 0SO) vs Vasilevskiy (8-1-1 .936/ 1.80 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Tampa Bay/
Scouting Report
A six-game winning streak and a seven-game point run takes the Tampa Bay Lightning (1st in Central Division) to a road game against the neighboring Florida Panthers (2nd in Central), who have a horrid recent record against the Bolts.
The current winning streak of the Tampa Bay Lightning (9-1-1) extended to six matchups after the team banked a 6-1 triumph against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday. After the Preds opened the scoring just barely five minutes into the first period, the Bolts buried six unanswered snipes subsequently (three – in the opening frame, three – in the final third), with Steven Stamkos (7 goals, 14 points this year) and Mathieu Joseph (4 goals, 5 points) both lighting the lamp twice. Ondrej Palat (5 goals, 8 points) and Yanni Gourde (4 goals, 6 points) also scored for Tampa Bay, which went 3-for-5 on power play and killed all of its four penalties.
The Florida Panthers (7-1-2) recovered from their first regulation defeat of the season after following up Sunday’s 4-1 home loss to the Detroit Red Wings with a 2-1 victory against the team from Motor City at BB&T Center on Tuesday. Detroit outshot the hosts 32-22 and opened the scoring three-and-a-half minutes into the first period, only for Alex Wennberg (2 goals, 4 points this year) to tie it just before the first intermission, with Patric Hornqvist (6 goals, 10 points) banking the winner with a power-play snipe in the second frame after a shot by Aaron Ekblad (3 goals, 7 points) bounced off his chest into the Red Wings net. The Cats are 4-1-1 when playing on own ice this season.
Full preview at Winners & Whiners
Thursday in the Central (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances):
- COLUMBUS (6-5-3 15P) at CHICAGO (6-4-4 16P) 8 p.m.
- DETROIT (3-9-2 8P) at NASHVILLE (5-8-0 10P) 8 p.m.
- CAROLINA (7-3-0 14P) at DALLAS (5-2-3 13P) 8:30 p.m./
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