The Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers are playing for the second time this season. The Panthers won their first meeting in October.
The Blue Jackets go into Florida and will play a red-hot Panthers team. The Cats are 8-2 in the last 10, have won 4 straight, and sit tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs atop the Atlantic Division.
The Jackets lost to the Lightning, ending their four-game winning streak. They’ll be looking to get back on the winning side of things. The playoff race is getting extremely tight, and the CBJ will need to continue playing the way they have for the last two months to keep pace.
Panthers Stats
- Power Play – 23.0% - 13th in NHL
- Penalty Kill – 80.3% - 13th in NHL
- Goals For – 202 – 6th – 3.26 GPG – 7th
- Goals Against – 172 – 10th – 2.77 GPG – 9th
Series History vs. The Panthers
- Columbus is 10-13-2 on the road and 26-20-5 in 51 all-time games against the Panthers.
- The Blue Jackets are 0-5-1 in the last 6 games vs. Florida.
Who To Watch For The Panthers
- Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers with 31 goals and 64 points.
- Aleksander Barkov leads the team with 40 assists.
- Sergei Bobrovsky is 26-13-2 with a SV% of .906.
- Newly acquired goalie Vitek Vanecek is 3-10-3 with an .882 SV%.
CBJ Player Notes vs. The Panthers
- James van Riemsdyk has 25 points in 41 career games against the Panthers
- Boone Jenner has 20 points in 33 games against Florida.
- Damon Severson has 14 points in 24 games vs. the Panthers.
Injuries
- Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16 (58 Games)
- Sean Monahan (upper body) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Jan. 7 (20 Games)
- Kevin Labanc (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 21 (5 Games)
- Cole Sillinger is day-to-day with an upper body injury (2 Games)
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 262
How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on FanDuel Sports Network. Steve Mears will be on the play-by-play. The radio broadcast will be on 97.1 The Fan, with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play.
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