Pittsburgh Penguins (28-19-7 63P) vs Florida Panthers (32-18-6 70P)
- WHEN: 7:30 p.m. ET – LBC GameThread right here at 7ish
- WHERE: BB&T Center – Boynton Beach Princeton Sunrise, FL
- UPCOMING PROMOTIONS: Presidents Day specials, Coke Zero Collectible Pins (details; Nick Bjugstad is February’s honoree)/
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- ON THE TUBE: FOX Sports Florida, ROOT
- ON THE DIAL: 560 AM, 640 AM; Official App
- SOCIALS: #FlaPanthers, #Pens, #PITvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Pensburgh
- SB NATION: Game Hub /
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- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 3 of 3 (0-0-2)
- ALL-TIME vs PIT: 35W-34L-4T 7OTL 4SOL 235GF 240GA
- ALL-TIME at FLA: 22W-16L-1T 3OTL 0SOL 124GF 112GA
- LAST FIVE vs PIT: 1-2-2 10GF 17GA
- LAST GAME vs PIT: PIT 3 at FLA 2 in OT (LBC Recap) – 02/06/2016/
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- PROJECTED STARTERS: Montoya (8-4-1 2.06/.926 0SO), Fleury (22-13-5 2.37/.921 4SO)
- JAGR WATCH: All-time vs PIT (regular season): 53GP 24G-22A 46P 4GWG
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Pittsburgh /
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Notable:
F Greg McKegg (21P/9G with the AHL Pirates in 39GP) has been recalled from Portland, while injured C Aleksander Barkov (upper body) was placed on IR Sunday. Due to a slew recent of injuries the Panthers have a significant AHL flavor these days, as John McFarland, Garrett Wilson, Brent Regner, Logan Shaw & now McKegg have seen reassignments to the parent club. The Sun-Sentinel’s Harvey Fialkov via Twitter: “Panthers off [Sunday] so no further word on Pirri or Howden. I’ll bet big bucks that neither will be at morning skate [today]“.
NHL.com Preview:
[Penguins’ forward Evgeni] Malkin (lower body) will miss his sixth straight game. Coach Mike Sullivan received an encouraging report from athletic trainer Chris Stewart after practice Sunday. “[Malkin] had a good day today,” Sullivan told the Penguins website. “He is making progress. So that’s encouraging. Hopefully he continues to make progress. He’s that much closer. We’ll see. We’ll evaluate when we get back (to Pittsburgh) after this game.” Forward Nick Bonino will miss his 13th straight game with a hand injury. “He’s on the ice and he’s skating, which is good,” Sullivan said. “He’s getting his skating legs back and trying to get them in shape that way. (More)
Yahoo.com Preview:
The Florida Panthers’ hopes of staying atop the Atlantic Division are appearing tenuous with their recent struggles. Coming off one of their most lopsided defeats of the season, the Panthers look to avoid a fifth loss in six games Monday night when they face the team that started them on their cold stretch, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Florida dropped to 1-3-1 in its last five with Saturday’s 5-0 drubbing to visiting Nashville. The Predators scored two goals in the opening nine minutes as the Panthers gave up at least four for a third straight contest. “Our team has been pathetic the last couple of games,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “It’s a tough spot but men get through it and you battle back. It’s two losses in a row that we were no good. We’re going to play another real good team in Pittsburgh. We’ll see what we’re made of.” (More)
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Last game for the Cats: 5-0 drubbing by Nashville Saturday. Past five: 1-3-1 12GF 20GA (streak: 2L)
Last game for the Pens: 2-1 shootout victory in Carolina on Friday. Past five: 3-2-0 14GF 14GA (streak: 1W)
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Monday in the Atlantic Division (Standings / Panthers Playoff Chances):
- DETROIT (29-18-9 67P) at NY Islanders (29-19-6 64P), 1:00 NHLN
- TORONTO (20-25-9 49P) at Chicago (36-18-5 77P), 8:30 NHLN
- MONTREAL (27-25-4 58P) at Arizona (25-24-6 56P), 9:00
- Idle: BOS (66P), TBL (64P), OTT (56P), BUF (52P)/
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Panthers, SoFla Media & Loyal Opposition on the Tweets
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