Summary:
The Florida Panthers begin a three-game homestand today after a tough road loss from the Philadelphia Flyers. Young winger Jonathan Huberdeau is expected to return to the lineup after a stint with the flu kept him sidelined for the past three games. Will Huberdeau bring the team a much needed offensive bump? Can Florida finally find their scoring touch? On to the game!
Historical Context:
In 25 games played against the Calgary Flames, the Panthers have 9 wins, 9 losses, 3 ties and 4 overtime losses. This leaves the team with 25 points and a .500% points percentage. This ranks Calgary as the team number 8 out of 29 on the Panthers total win column.
What To Expect:
Florida is slowly but surely recovering from the slew of injuries that hit the team last week. With Huberdeau returning to the lineup, the Colby Robak Wing Experiment is over and the team will finally have a healthy set of forwards. It looks like Trocheck and Grimaldi only have a few more games to leave a positive impression on the team before they’re sent back to San Antonio. I’d expect both call-ups to bring their A game tonight.
Know Your Enemy:
Johnny Gaudreau: “Johnny Hockey” has looked rather impressive in his first NHL season so far. After an incredibly dominant performance (175 P in 117 GP) in his time with Boston College, Gaudreau is looking to make the same impact at the NHL level. So far, the rookie has 2 Goals and 7 Assists in his first 14 games and made it look easy as he’s done it.
Expected Line Combinations:
Calgary Flames:
L1: Gaudreau/Granlund/Hudler
L2: Glencross/Monahan/Jones
L3: Baertschi/Byron/Setoguchi
L4: Paille/Campbell/Gagne
D1: Giordano/Brodie
D2: Russell/Wideman
D3: Smid/Engelland
Starting G: Ramo
Backup G: Hiller
Florida Panthers:
L1: Upshall/Barkov/Jokinen
L2: Huberdeau/Bjugstad/Boyes
L3: Fleischmann/Trocheck/Hayes
L4: Kopecky/MacKenzie/Thornton
D1: Campbell/Ekblad
D2: Mitchell/Kulikov
D3: Olsen/Gudbranson
Starting G: Montoya
Backup G: Luongo
Closing Thoughts:
Calgary on paper is not as good as their record shows. This is a very winnable game for Florida and hopefully, they can get an early jump on the Flames and put some pucks in the net. I’d like to see Florida’s offense finally wake up and see some production from the young guns.
Kris M. can be reached for contact on Twitter or via email at thesunshineskate@gmail.com.
