The Panthers seek a crucial home victory, looking to overcome recent struggles and take down a Columbus squad that's probably better than their record indicates.
The Florida Panthers will look to snap their recent losing streak when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night in Sunrise.
Florida enters the contest having lost each of their past four games overall and five in a row on home ice.
Their most recent defeat came at the hands of the Nashville Predators on Thursday night, a game Florida had a late one-goal lead before ultimately losing in overtime.
In fact, the Cats have held leads in the majority of their recent losses. Others saw them get less-than-favorable goaltending.
Ultimately, the down stretch has left Florida at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, five points back of third place in the Atlantic Division and seven point behind the second Wild Card spot.
Perhaps their uphill climb will begin this weekend, when they host Columbus and the New York Islanders for a quick back-to-back set.
Columbus arrives riding consecutive strong victories, one in New Jersey and one against Detroit.
The Blue Jackets have won six of their past 12, but they’ve only lost twice in regulation during that span (6-2-4).
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Saturday’s matchup with Columbus
Carter Verhaeghe – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Jesper Boqvist – Evan Rodrigues – Mackie Samoskevich
A.J. Greer – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
Noah Gregor – Jack Studnicka – Luke Kunin
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Donovan Sebrango – Jeff Petry
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Photo caption: Apr 11, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves (73) makes a save against Florida Panthers center Evan Rodrigues (17) during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)