Thursday, March 28, 2024

NHL Preview: Florida Panthers (36-30-7) at Ottawa Senators (35-33-5)

FLORIDA PANTHERS NOTES:

BAPTIST HEALTH INJURY REPORT

  • F Patric Hornqvist | Games Missed: 48
  • F Sam Bennett | Games Missed: 3
    Total Man Games Lost Due to Injury: 216
    LAST GAME
    Panthers 3, Rangers 4 – March 25 – FLA Live Arena
    FLA Goals: Barkov (19), Lomberg (11), Barkov (20)
    NYR Goals: Kakko (14), Lafreniere (15), Kane (20), Chytil (21)
    FLA Goalie: Bobrovsky (L) – 38 Saves
    NYR Goalie: Halak (W) – 31 Saves
    FLA Shots: 34
    NYR Shots: 42
    Notes: Aleksander Barkov (2-0-2) recorded his second multi-goal game of the season to extend his point streak to 10 games (4-12-16)…Barkov’s current streak is his second of at least 10 games this season…Carter Verhaeghe notched an assist for the third consecutive game to extend his point streak to a career-long eight games (4-7-11)…Verhaeghe’s current three-game assist streak is tied for the longest of his career…Barkov skated in his 655th NHL game, surpassing Stephen Weiss for 2nd-most games played in franchise history…Radko Gudas led Florida with six hits…FLA PP: 0-2, FLA PK: 3-3

RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

  • March 20: Traded rights to D Cole Krygier to LAK in exchange for future considerations
  • March 19: G Alex Lyon recalled from Charlotte (AHL) | G Mack Guzda loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
  • March 15: G Mack Guzda recalled from Charlotte (AHL) | G Alex Lyon loaned to Charlotte (AHL)

PANTHERS vs. SENATORS
ALL-TIME vs. OTT: 48-51-3-5
ALL-TIME ROAD vs. OTT: 24-22-2-4
2022-23 vs. OTT: 1-0-0

CATS STATS

  • Matthew Tkachuk and Evgeni Malkin are the only two active skaters with over 475 career points and 500 career PIMs in their first 500 career games.
  • The Panthers have surrendered just one power-play goal against over their past five games (11/12, 91.6%).
  • Sergei Bobrovsky owns a 12-5-1 record, .915 save percentage and 2.28 goals against average over 18 career games against OTT.
  • Sam Reinhart has recorded 22 points (9-13-22) across 25 career games against the Senators.

OTTAWA SENATORS NOTES:

LAST GAME: March 25, 5-3 loss at New Jersey: Hamilton broke a 3-3 tie at 3:34 of the third period for the game-winning marker as New Jersey emerged with a 5-3 victory at Prudential Center. The victory saw the Devils reach the 100-point mark for the first time since 2011-12 and clinch a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2017-18. Ottawa received goals from Tkachuk, Chabot and Kastelic while New Jersey had tallies from Hughes, Bratt and Mercer to set up the games 3-3 score heading into the final stanza. It set up Hamilton’s seventh game-winner of the season to establish a new franchise mark for most game-winning goals by a Devils defenceman. Tatar scored into an empty net while Stützle added two assists for the Senators to move within one of 100 career helpers. Blackwood made 25 saves to earn the win for New Jersey while Ferguson turned aside 30 shots in taking the loss for Ottawa. Scratch:
Kleven; Injuries: Chychrun, Forsberg, Greig, Joseph, Kelly, Norris, Talbot; Shots: OTT – 28, NJD – 35; PP: OTT – 0-3, NJD – 1-2.

BROADCAST INFORMATION: This evening’s game against Florida will be broadcast nationally on Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet ONE and RDS2. On the radio, the game will be available locally via TSN 1200 (English) and 94,5 Unique-FM (French).

WHAT’S NEXT: Ottawa continues a three-game homestand against Philadelphia on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. The contest will mark the third of three regular-season meetings and the second of two matchups at Canadian Tire Centre.

INJURY REPORT: G Forsberg, C Norris and G Talbot are on IR and will not oppose the Panthers this evening. F Joseph and F Kelly have missed the last seven games with lower-body injuries. D Chychrun and C Greig missed Saturday evening’s game with a lower body and upper body injury respectively. Total man-games lost: 265.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS: Signed D Kleven to a three-year, entry-level contract on March 23.

OTTAWA vs. FLORIDA – History:
2022-23 (0-1-0): Oct. 29 @ Florida (5-3 loss), March 27 @ Ottawa, April 6 @ Florida
2021-22 (1-2-1): 12/14/21 @ Florida (8-2 win), 3/3/22 @ Florida (3-0 loss), 3/26/22 @ Ottawa (4-3 SO loss), 4/28/22 @ Ottawa (4-0 loss)

Series record: Overall: 56-43-3-5; Home: 26-21-2-3; Away: 30-22-1-2
Last Ottawa win: @ Ottawa: 3/29/18 (3-2 OT); @ Florida: 12/14/21 (8-2)
Last Florida win: @ Ottawa: 4/28/22 (4-0); @ Florida: Oct. 29 (5-3)
Last OT result: 3/29/18 (3-2 OT win) @ Ottawa
Last shootout: 3/26/22 (4-3 SO loss) @ Ottawa
Most goals, game: Scored: 8, (12/14/21, 8-2 win); Allowed: 7, (2x, Last: 11/19/18, 7-5 loss); Both teams: 12, (11/19/18, 7-5 loss)
Last Game: Oct. 29, 5-3 loss @ Florida; OTT Goals: Pinto, Tkachuk, Holden; FLA Goals: Verhaeghe (x2), Barkov, Montour, Tkachuk; OTT Scratches: Gambrell, Heatherington; OTT Injuries: Norris, Talbot, Zub; OTT Goalie: Forsberg; FLA Goalie: Knight; OTT PP: 1-2; FLA PP: 1-4; Shots: 26-58.
Career vs. Florida: Giroux leads all players in career games played (44), in goals (11), in assists (18) and in points (29); Hamonic leads in penalty minutes (44) against Florida.

HOME ON THE RANGE: Ottawa has a record of 20-13-3 at home this season … Tim Stützle is the Senators leader with 22 goals at home while also maintaining the club lead with 29 assists at Canadian Tire Centre … Through 36 home games, Stützle leads the team with 51 points on home ice … The Senators earned a record of 15-22-4 at home through 41 home contests in 2021-22.

BACK-TO-BACK GAMES: Ottawa will play back-to-back games on 12 occasions in 2022-23 and will open their 12th set of the season on Saturday when Toronto visits Canadian Tire Centre ahead of visiting Columbus the following evening … The Senators played 17 back-to-back sets last season and earned a record of 6-9-2 in the first half of contests on consecutive nights (7-4-0 this season) while posting an 8-8-1 record (6-5-0 this season) in the second half of games on consecutive days.

ON THE POWER PLAY: The Senators are 65 for 272 (23.9%) on the power-play in 2022-23 … Drake Batherson leads with 14 powerplay goals while Alex DeBrincat and Tkachuk maintain the club lead with 27 points while the team enjoys a man advantage … Ottawa
has recorded multiple power-play goals 17 times in an individual contest in 2022-23 after having done so 11 times in 2021-22.
Ottawa Senators: Media Notes

ON THE PENALTY KILL: Ottawa has overcome 215 of the 262 occasions the team has been shorthanded in 2022-23 to maintain an efficiency of 82.1% through 73 regular-season games … The team has registered nine (Stützle x3, Watson x3, Joseph x2, Motte) shorthanded markers this season after recording nine such goals in 2021-22.

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