Final regular season matchup between Panthers and Hurricanes should be another good one

David Dwork

Mar 14, 2024, 12:00

David Dwork

Mar 14, 2024, 12:00

Carolina has gone 14-5-1 over their past 20 games

The Florida Panthers will wrap up their quick two-game road trip with another tough test against one of the NHL's best clubs.

After erasing a three-goal deficit to defeat the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, the Panthers are in Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes in a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference Finals.

To say that Florida has been a force to be reckoned with when playing away from home this season would be a bit of an understatement.

The Panthers lead the NHL in road wins with 41, have allowed the fewest road goals against (71), take the most road shots on goal (33.2 per game) and have the league's best road penalty kill, eliminating 86.5% of their opponents’ power play opportunities.

Thursday’s game will be the third and final meeting of the regular season between the Cats and the Canes.

Both teams have earned a win on home ice, with Florida winning 5-2 all the way back in November and the Hurricanes picking up two points last month in a 1-0 shutout thanks to a 45-save effort from goalie Pyotr Kochetkov.

Sebastian Aho scored the game's only goal with 18.9 seconds to go, but based off the hostilities shown by both teams that night, we should be in store for another good one.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDi_VXAFTnc[/embed]

Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky has started both games against Carolina this season, stopping 56 of 59 shots in the two outings.

The Hurricanes have lost only three games in regulation over their past 13, but all three came at PNC Arena.

Here are the projected lines and pairings for the Panthers ahead of Thursday's battle with Carolina:

Vladimir Tarasenko – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues

Nick Cousins – Kevin Stenlund – Kyle Okposo

Gus Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour

Dmitry Kulikov – Josh Mahura

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