A losing streak will end tonight when the struggling Florida Panthers (12-8-1) host the Washington Capitals (13-6-1) at Amerant Bank Arena.
Florida’s current homestand started off on a sour note, with the flailing club getting carved up 7-4 by the visiting Colorado Avalanche. Sergei Bobrovsky surrendered four second period goals as the Cats saw a 2-1 lead turn into an insurmountable 5-2 deficit. Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell scored the goals for the Panthers, and rookie Mackie Samoskevich (two assists) registered the first multi-point game of his career. The Cats have lost five of their last six.
The Capitals haven’t been the same since losing Alex Ovechkin to injury. Ovechkin was leading the league in goals when he left a 6-2 win over Utah early in the third period with a fractured fibula. Without their legendary sniper, Washington’s offense has sputtered as the team dropped a 2-1 decision to the Avalanche and were beaten 3-2 by the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. Dylan Strome leads the Capitals in scoring with 28 points.
- WHEN: 7 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps, Monumental Sports Network
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #ALLCAPS, #WSHvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Japers’ Rink
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 1 of 3
- LAST MEETING: @FLA 3, WSH 2 (OT) (Recap) – 2/24/2024
- NEXT MEETING: February 4, 2025
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Knight (3-3-0 .897 / 2.72 0SO) Washington: Thompson (8-1-1 .914 / 2.58 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Washington
Monday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- Colorado (12-9-0 24P) at TAMPA BAY (10-7-2 22P) 7 p.m.
- Calgary (12-6-3 27P) at OTTAWA (8-11-1 17P) 7:30 p.m.
- DETROIT (8-10-2 18P) at New York Islanders (8-8-5 21P) 7:30 p.m.
Idle: TOR (28P), BUF (23P), BOS (23P), MON (16P)