The Florida Panthers will look to end a three-game losing streak as they begin a back-to-back series against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday. The team currently holds a 30-28-3 record and is 10 points out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot with the trade deadline approaching on Friday.
“We’re in a tough spot, but we can’t do anything about it now,” said forward Carter Verhaeghe regarding the team’s playoff hopes. “We’re just trying to focus on what we can build and ways we can get better. That’s it. Every day, it’s a new game. We’re going into it one game at a time.”
The Panthers have lost the first two games of their four-game road trip, including a 5-4 defeat to the New York Islanders and a 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Anton Lundell scored Florida’s only goal against New Jersey, marking his 200th NHL point.
“He’s 24 years old and run in the number one hole against the other team’s best all year long,” head coach Paul Maurice said about Lundell. “He started to get a feel of what that’s like, but it’s good for those young guys to get a taste of the pressure.”
Daniil Tarasov will start in net for Florida against his former team. This season, Tarasov has an 8-9-2 record with a .903 save percentage.
Due to uncertainty surrounding potential trades before Friday’s deadline, Maurice did not confirm any lineup changes ahead of Thursday’s game. “I’ll let you know when we get back to the rink,” he said. “It’s that time of year.”
The Blue Jackets enter with momentum, holding a 31-21-8 record and sitting three points behind Boston for an Eastern Conference wild-card berth. Columbus has gone 8-1-1 over its last ten games and recently defeated Nashville 3-2 at home.
Sean Monahan tied that game with a shorthanded goal early in the third period before Charlie Coyle scored his 16th goal of the season minutes later for Columbus’ win. Goaltender Jet Greaves made 21 saves in that contest and is expected to start again; he has posted a .909 save percentage this season.
Zach Werenski leads Columbus in scoring but may miss tonight’s matchup due to injury. He ranks second among NHL defensemen with 65 points this season (20 goals, 45 assists). Kirill Marchenko leads Blue Jackets forwards with 51 points while Coyle has recorded 46 points so far this year.
“They’re great players,” Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola said about Columbus’ top forwards. “Need to know when they’re on the ice and need to work together to stop them.”
This is their second meeting this season; Florida previously beat Columbus in December after overcoming multiple deficits in what Verhaeghe described as “a crazy game.” Sam Bennett led Florida then with four points including the winning goal.
“There’s definitely some things on the power play we took from it,” Verhaeghe added regarding lessons from their last meeting. “We watched some video… It’s mostly on us… how we want to play.”
Maurice outlined his expectations: “Lots of close support, and with that as much speed as you can generate. That’s what we’re looking for here tonight.”
Other notes include Sam Bennett being one assist away from his career milestone of 200 assists and Brad Marchand leading Florida with five multi-goal games this season.
Recent roster moves saw goaltender Louis Domingue sign through next season while forward Luke Kunin was loaned out earlier this week.
Florida faces off against Columbus at Nationwide Arena Thursday night at 7 p.m., broadcast across local TV stations WSFL, WHDT, WFTX, streaming via PanthersPlus.TV, and radio coverage including WQAM-AM.
