Panthers at Lightning
The red-hot Florida Panthers look to extend their season-high winning streak to seven games when they make a quick trip north to take on the NHL-best Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night. The Panthers have climbed within one point of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference after sweeping through a six-game homestand, with another five straight at home coming after Tuesday’s showdown.
“I feel like right now, we’re in a great spot,” Florida’s leading scorer Aleksander Barkov told reporters. “We’re winning games. We’re playing great hockey. … Right now, I don’t remember how it was last year, but right now, everybody’s together here and we know that our goal is to make the playoffs.” The Panthers capped their perfect homestand with a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia on Sunday and will meet with Atlantic Division-rival Tampa Bay for the first time since late October. The Lightning have been struggling in the defensive end of late, allowing 10 goals in the last two games, but are 6-0-1 in their past seven contests after rallying from a pair of two-goal deficits in a 7-6 shootout win over Philadelphia on Saturday. “Anytime you’re down a couple goals in different parts of the game, especially in the third, and you come back and win it’s emotional,” Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos told reporters after posting a career-high five points. “It shows guys care. Guys never gave up. We got some big goals and stayed with it.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Florida, FS Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (32-25-6): Goaltender Roberto Luongo has earned six wins in seven games since returning from a lower-body injury, boasting a .935 save percentage in that span after Sunday’s triumph. “It’s a veteran presence,” Florida defenseman Keith Yandle told reporters. “He’s the backbone of our team. He’s a guy we lean on a lot.” Barkov has recorded five goals during a four-game streak and 10 of his team-leading 64 points have come in the last six games while fellow forward Jonathan Huberdeau notched a pair of tallies and set up three others in the last six contests to sit second on the team with 58 points.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (45-17-4): Right wing Nikita Kucherov returned to the lineup Saturday after sitting out two games with an upper-body injury and registered three assists to push his league-leading total to 85 points. Stamkos owns six goals and six assists in his last nine games to increase his season total to 77 points while defenseman Victor Hedman has five in the past two contests to pull within one of his third 50-point campaign. Defenseman Ryan McDonagh (upper-body), acquired from the New York Rangers last week, is expected to sit out Tuesday and could make his debut Thursday against his former team.
OVERTIME
1. The Lightning won two of the three matchups in October with a combined 30 goals scored.
2. Florida RW Evgenii Dadonov has registered five goals and five assists in his last six games.
3. Tampa Bay LW Alex Killorn is two points from matching his career high of 41 in 2013-14.