Panthers at Blue Jackets
The Florida Panthers can complete a perfect three-game road trip and move into playoff position in the Eastern Conference when they visit the streaking Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night. The Panthers earned a shutout win at Montreal on Monday before knocking off Ottawa 7-2 only 24 hours later to move within one point of New Jersey for the second wild-card spot in the East with two games in hand.
“I think these two games were pretty textbook, defensively,” Florida goalie James Reimer told reporters. “Back end of a back to back, obviously, it’s hard and sometimes your legs aren’t there, so you’ve got to be mentally sharp and for the most part (Tuesday) the guys did really well.” The Blue Jackets moved into third place in the Metropolitan Division with their ninth straight victory Tuesday - a 5-3 triumph against the New York Rangers - and have beaten the Panthers three times in a row, including both this season. “(The streak) is a cool feather in the cap but right now all we care about is getting into the playoffs,” Columbus captain Nick Foligno told reporters. “I’m not taking anything away from what we’ve done here, but we know that it really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.” Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has won his last six starts for the Blue Jackets with a .930 save percentage in that span and is 11-1-2 lifetime against Florida.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Florida, FS Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (37-27-7): Forward Frank Vatrano, who was acquired from Boston before the trade deadline, has made quite an impression since returning from injury with three goals and an assist in six games with a plus-3 rating. All-Star center Aleksander Barkov has five of his team-leading 73 points in the last five games and needs one goal to reach 100 in his career. Second-leading scorer Vincent Trocheck (66 points) suffered an upper-body injury Tuesday and his status is uncertain while defenseman Alex Petrovic (lower-body) is questionable.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (41-28-5): Left wing Artemi Panarin registered his first hat trick with Columbus on Tuesday and boasts 22 of his team-best 68 points in the last 16 games. “The teams that end up being there at the end of the year have a game-breaker and a guy who relishes being in those situations. A guy who wants the puck in key situation,” coach John Tortorella told reporters of Panarin. “We’re fortunate to have one.” Defenseman Seth Jones (49 points, second on the team) has missed three straight games with an upper-body injury and is questionable.
OVERTIME
1. Foligno recorded five assists in the last three games to reach 400 points in his career.
2. Florida D Keith Yandle is one point from reaching 50 for the first time since 2013-14 while with Arizona.
3. Columbus LW Thomas Vanek boasts eight points in the last seven games after going pointless in his first four outings with the team.