After playing nine of its 11 games away from the friendly confines of FLA Live Arena, the Florida Panthers (23-21-6) will kick off a five-game homestand tonight against the Los Angeles Kings (27-17-6) in suburban Sunrise. Things couldn’t have gone any worse for the idle Cats last night as the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh in overtime, leaving Florida six points behind the Capitals and five behind the Penguins. And to rub a little more salt in the wound, the Buffalo Sabres won, too.
The Kings will continue their grind in the Sunshine State with back-to-back games against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning as they progress through the back half of a half-dozen-game road swing. Those matchups will wrap up the season series with both squads. The Kings defeated both teams in their previous meetings.
The Florida Panthers, who are getting noteworthy performances from Brandon Montour, Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk, host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night in Sunrise, Fla. Although Florida has lost its past two games, the Panthers are 7-3-2 since Jan. 3 -- a hopeful sign for a franchisethat struggled through the first half of the season. "We're a much (better) hockey team than we were a month ago," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
No | Player | Pos |
---|---|---|
44 | D | |
28 | C | |
33 | LW | |
7 | D | |
55 | C | |
29 | G | |
24 | C | |
8 | D | |
50 | D | |
2 | D | |
68 | RW | |
22 | LW | |
91 | RW | |
19 | LW | |
34 | RW | |
9 | C | |
11 | C | |
89 | C | |
48 | LW | |
46 | C | |
12 | C | |
57 | D | |
32 | G | |
3 | D | |
39 | C | |
13 | C | |
26 | D |