Pittsburgh Penguins (25-18-7 57P) at Florida Panthers (31-15-5 67P)
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET – LBC GameThread right here at 6:30ish
- WHERE: BB&T Center – Miami Ft. Lauderdale Sunrise, FL
- TICKETS: Single Game via the club
- PROMOTIONS: Presidents Day specials, Valentine’s Day Weekend specials, Coke Zero Collectible Pins (details; Nick Bjugstad is February’s honoree), Heart Healthy Selfie/
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- ON THE TUBE: FOX Sports Florida, ROOT
- ON THE DIAL: 560, 640, 760, 1210 (AM); 97.7, 107.9 (FM); Official App
- SOCIALS: #FlaPanthers, #Pens, #PITvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook page
- ENEMY INTEL: Pensburgh
- SB NATION: Game Hub
- GAME NOTES: via the club/
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- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 3 (0-0-1)
- ALL-TIME vs PIT: 35W-34L-4T 6OTL 4SOL 233GF 237GA
- ALL-TIME at FLA: 22W-16L-1T 2OTL 0SOL 122GF 109GA
- LAST FIVE vs PIT: 2-2-1 13GF 15GA/
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- PROJECTED STARTERS: Luongo (23-13-4 .930/2.11 4SO), Zatkoff (3-5-1 .919/2.73 0SO)
- JAGR WATCH: All-time vs PIT (regular season): 52GP 24G-22A 46P 4GWG
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Pittsburgh /
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Notable:
Florida called up AHL Portland Pirates captain D Brent Regner on Friday; assuming he’s the insurance policy if Erik Gudbranson (undisclosed) or Steven Kampfer (knee) miss any time…D Willie Mitchell (lower body) remains out…F Shawn Thornton is in…Luongo is 14-9-4 (4 SO) in 29 career appearances vs PIT…Lu understandably took Friday off and his spot was filled by Panthers account exec Bobby Segin on practice ice…the Pens will be without centers Evgeni Malkin and Eric Fehr, both with lower-body issues (whatever that may mean); fellow center Sidney Crosby has been reinvigorated in recent days with 9 points (7 goals) in his last five games…Completely OT: the second-place Bolts – who defeated Pittsburgh last night – have been exceptional since the calendar year flipped; 11-2 since January 1, with the only losses coming against Calgary on January 5th and Florida on the 23rd…the Cat are 10-3-1 over the same span.
NHL.com Preview:
Center Vincent Trocheck has five goals in the past four games and leads Florida with 17 in 51 games. “If we’re going to win, it’s not about three or four guys; you need a team,” coach Gerard Gallant told the Miami Herald on Friday. “And [Trocheck] is a big part of that. He’s a good player, and we know he’s going to put up points. I see a guy working hard on both ends, playing a complete game.” (More)
Yahoo.com Preview:
Crosby will shoulder a big offensive burden again with Evgeni Malkin (lower body) set to miss his second straight game. Malkin, who leads the team with 23 goals and 49 points, scored in overtime to give the Penguins a 3-2 victory over Florida on Oct. 20. Games on back-to-back nights could give Marc-Andre Fleury a chance to rebound from Friday’s abbreviated outing. He was pulled midway through the second period after allowing four goals on 14 shots, ending his personal five-game win streak. Fleury has allowed nine goals on 37 shots in his last two starts. (More)
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Last game for the Cats: 6-3 clinic vs the Wings in Sunrise on Thursday. Past five: 5-0-0 25GF 8GA (streak: 5W)
Last game for the Pens: 6-3 loss in Tampa Bay on Friday. Past five: 4-1-0 20GF 18GA (streak: 1L)
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Tuesday in the Atlantic Division (Standings / Panthers Playoff Chances):
- Edmonton (21-26-5 47P) at MONTREAL (24-24-4 52P), 2:00
- NY Islanders (26-17-6 58P) at DETROIT (25-18-8 58P), 2:00
- BUFFALO (21-26-5 47P) at BOSTON (27-18-6 60P), 7:00
- TORONTO (19-22-9 47P) at OTTAWA (23-23-6 52P), 7:00
- Idle: TBL (62P)/
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Panthers, SoFla Media & Loyal Opposition on the Tweets
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