The struggling Florida Panthers (18-12-2) will complete a two-game, pre-Christmas homestand this afternoon when they welcome the Vegas Golden Knights (21-8-5) to Amerant Bank Arena. It will be the first matchup between the two teams since Vegas its first Stanley Cup over the Panthers back on June 13. The Cats are still licking their wounds after they followed up a frustrating road trip with a lackluster, mistake-filled 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.
The Golden Knights, who have lost two in a row, will be looking to leave the Sunshine State with a win after getting nipped 5-4 by the Tampa Bay Lightning while the Panthers were busy getting beaten by the Blues. Jack Eichel leads the Golden Knights in scoring with 39 points. Former Panther Jonathan Marchessault’s 17 goals in tops on the club.
- WHEN: 3:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Bally Sports Florida, Scripps
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #VegasBorn, #VGKvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Knights On Ice
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 1 of 2
- LAST MEETING: @FLA 2, VGK 1 – (Recap) 3/7/2023
- NEXT MEETING: January 4, 2024
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (14-9-1 .909 / 2.52 2SO) / Vegas: Patera (1-1-0 .893 / 3.88 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Vegas
Saturday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- TORONTO (16-8-6 38P) at Columbus (11-17-6 28P) 7 p.m.
- BOSTON (19-6-6 44P) at Minnesota (14-13-4 32P) 7 p.m.
- DETROIT (16-13-4 36P) at New Jersey (16-14-2 34P) 7 p.m.
- Pittsburgh (15-13-3 33P) at OTTAWA (11-17-0 22P) 7 p.m. (NHL Network)
- TAMPA BAY (16-13-5 37P) at Washington (17-9-4 38P) 7 p.m.
- BUFFALO (14-17-3 31P) at New York Rangers (22-8-1 45P) 7 p.m.
Idle: MTL (35P)