Panthers at Jets
The Florida Panthers can complete a sweep of their four-game Canadian road trip when they visit the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. The surging Panthers extended their winning streak to five games with a come-from-behind victory in Ottawa on Thursday. "It's never easy playing in someone else's building, especially here," Florida goaltender Scott Clemmensen said. "I think that's the biggest difference now to back to the begining of the season. We believe we can win."
Winnipeg is tied with Nashville for last place in the Central Division, and one of the reasons is the team's inability to win on home ice. The Jets are mired in a six-game winless drought (0-3-3) at MTS Centre and haven't prevailed at home since beating Philadelphia in a shootout on Nov. 15. Winnipeg could receive a boost along the blue line with the expected return of defenseman Zach Bogosian, who has been sidelined 15 games due to a groin injury.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN (Florida), TSN (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (14-17-5): Goaltender Tim Thomas is eligible to return from the injured list, leaving interim coach Peter Horachek to wrestle with the decision of whether or not to stay with the hot hand in net. Clemmensen has won four straight starts in Thomas' absence, allowing six goals, and had a season-high 32 saves in Thursday's win over Ottawa. "He's been rock solid," Horachek said. "He's made the saves we've needed him to make. He keeps us in the games, stays in control. Now that he's been playing, he looks comfortable. Timing is important."
ABOUT THE JETS (15-16-5): Coach Claude Noel also has a choice to make in net because No. 1 goaltender Ondrej Pavelec has lost five straight starts (0-4-1) and surrendered 19 goals in that span. Conversely, backup Al Montoya has won three straight starts and yielded a total of five goals during that time. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to get your go-to guy going," Noel said. "I’m not into playing mind games with players. So we have to be smart in how we deal with stuff, and up-front. “This is a little bit of a bump right here. It’ll work itself out.”
OVERTIME
1. Winnipeg (13.2 percent) and Florida (10.4) rank 27th and 30th, respectively, in power-play efficiency.
2. Jets C Mark Scheifele has three goals and two assists during a four-game point streak.
3. Panthers rookie C Aleksander Barkov has two goals and three assists in his last five games.