After a three-game home stand that saw the Pittsburgh Penguins compile a 2-1 record, they head back on the road beginning in Florida for a rematch with the Panthers. The Penguins remained undefeated against Florida-based franchises on Sunday night when they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3. The Panthers look to rebound from a 4-1 loss at the hands of the Boston Bruins.
When and where: BB&T Center (Sunrise, FL); 7:30 p.m. et (ROOT Sports, Fox Sports-Florida)
Season records: Penguins (13-6-0; 26 pts.); Panthers (5-9-4; 14 pts.)
Season series: Penguins lead 1-0
Last meeting: The Penguins and Panthers already met once this season, last Friday, February 22 in Pittsburgh. Fueled by three unanswered goals, the Penguins defeated the Panthers 3-1. After a scoreless first period, and a second period goal by Mike Weaver of the Panthers, Chris Kunitz sparked a Pittsburgh surge with a power play goal. After the Kunitz goal, Matt Niskanen and Dustin Jeffrey followed suit with goals of their own to put Florida away. Marc-Andre Fleury picked up his ninth win of the season, stopping twenty-two of twenty-three shots.
Who to keep an eye on:
1. Jonathan Huberdeau: The third overall selection in the 2011 NHL draft, Huberdeau leads the Panthers with thirteen points (8 goals, 5 assists). The former Saint John’s Sea Dog has played in all eighteen of Florida’s games and appears to improve with each contest. With the absence of Stephen Weiss for tonight’s game, Huberdeau will be looked at as the primary point contributor.
2. Tomas Fleischmann: Ranked second on the Panthers in points (4 goals, 7 assists), Fleischmann has always caused trouble for Pittsburgh, dating back to his days with the Washington Capitals. In eighteen games against the Penguins, the twenty-eight year old winger from the Czech Republic has eight goals and five assists.
Injuries:
Penguins: C Evgeni Malkin (concussion)
Panthers: D Ed Jovanovski (knee), LW Scottie Upshall (ankle), RW Kris Versteeg (chest), D Michael Caruso (arm), LW Sean Bergenheim (groin)
Additional notes:
-The Panthers will be without Stephen Weiss, who travelled back to Toronto due to the passing of his grandmother.
-Tomas Vokoun enters Tuesday’s game with forty-nine career shutouts.
Projected lines:
Penguins (via penguins.nhl.com)
14 Chris Kunitz (A)-87 Sidney Crosby (C)-18 James Neal
24 Matt Cooke-16 Brandon Sutter-9 Pascal Dupuis
19 Beau Bennett-15 Dustin Jeffrey-48 Tyler Kennedy
10 Tanner Glass-46 Joe Vitale-27 Craig Adams
2 Matt Niskanen-58 Kris Letang
44 Brooks Orpik (A)-7 Paul Martin
47 Simon Despres-5 Deryk Engelland
92 Tomas Vokoun
Panthers (via @FlaPanthers)
11 Jonathan Huberdeau-15 Drew Shore-88 Peter Mueller
18 Shawn Matthias-75 Scott Timmins-82 Tomas Kopecky
14 Tomas Fleischmann-57 Marcel Goc-13 Mike Santorelli
12 Jack Skille-25 Jerred Smithson-22 George Parros
43 Mike Weaver-51 Brian Campbell (A)
23 Tyson Strachan-47 Colby Robak
7 Dmitry Kulikov-44 Erik Gudbranson
60 Jose Theodore
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