Florida: 14-8-4 (32PTS)
Washington: 13-11-1 (27PTS)
Season Series: 0-1-0
Game Time: 7:30 PM EST
Television: Fox Sports Florida, Comcast Sports Net
Radio: 560 WQAM
The Panthers make a brief stop at home in the middle of road trips tonight to host the Washington Capitals. To pretty much everyone’s surprise, the Panthers hold a five-point lead for the Southeast Division on the struggling Capitals. Tonight is an opportunity for the Cats to add two points to that lead and potentially move up in the Eastern Conference standings. The Panthers are one point behind the Boston Bruins and four behind the Conference-leading Pittsburgh Penguins. Those teams play each other tonight. It was also hoped that tonight would be a chance to see former Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun in action, but the Capitals have announced that Michal Neuvirth will be starting tonight’s game.
More from our Washington cohorts at Japers’ Rink.
Capitals vs Panthers coverage at SB Nation.
TSN Preview.
LBC Game Thread will open 30 minutes prior to puck drop.
News and Notes
Last meeting
The Capitals beat the Panthers 3-0 at Verizon Center and Tomas Vokoun got his first win and shutout against his former team. The loss was the first of back-to-back 3-0 losses for the Panthers, which would be followed by Dale Tallon trading David Booth and Steven Reinprecht to the Canucks for Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm. Samuelsson has yet to play for the Cats, but is expected to play in the next week or two.
Last game
The Panthers win again in San Jose, a city where they have been successful, beating the Sharks 5-3 in Scott Clemmensen’s second start of the season. For their efforts, Todd McClellan’s team got a bag skate and the Panthers held their five point division lead on the Capitals.
Lineup
No lineup changes have been announced for the Panthers, though both Jose Theodore and Mark Cullen missed an optional team skate.
Injuries
- F Mikael Samuelsson (rehab from abdominal surgery), 10/24, day to day
- F Scottie Upshall (hip), 11/10, 6 to 8 weeks
- F Matt Bradley (undisclosed), 11/16, 1 week
- F Marcel Goc (undisclosed head injury), 11/16, day to day
Healthy Scratches
- D Keaton Ellerby
- F Evgenii Dadonov or F Mark Cullen
Starting goaltenders:
Michal Neuvirth will start for the Capitals. The Panthers’ goalie will be a game-time decision, but it is expected that Scott Clemmensen will start. Clemmensen is 2-6-0-1 against the Caps with a 3.82 GAA and .861 save percentage. Theodore is 7-8-1-0 with a 2.52 GAA and .901 save percentage. Neuvirth is 2-1-1 against Florida with a 2.69 GAA and .915 save percentage.
Lines
Forwards
- Fleischmann-Weiss-Versteeg
- Kopecky-Santorelli-Sturm
- Bergenheim-Matthias-Skille
- Dadonov-Kennedy-Kearns
Defense
- Campbell-Garrison
- Jovanovski-Gudbranson
- Kulikov-Weaver