Panthers host Dallas looking to snap recent home losing streak
Florida has not won at Amerant Bank Arena since Nov. 20 against Edmonton
They’ve been a bit spaced out, but the Florida Panthers have lost each of their past three games played at Amerant Bank Arena over the past couple weeks.
Avoiding a fourth straight loss won’t be an easy task against the defensively sound Dallas Stars, who also happen to be one of the best road teams in the NHL.
Dallas holds an 8-2-2 away record this season, and that includes Monday’s 4-0 loss in Tampa.
Veteran Joe Pavelski has been one of the main reasons for the Stars early season success. Prior to the shutout in Tampa, Pavelski had racked up 12 points over his past nine games.
He leads Dallas with 11 goals and 24 points.
In recent history, the Stars have done quite well when facing Florida.
Dallas swept the two-game series against the Cats last season, outscoring Florida 12-5, and the Stars also hold a 4-1-2 record in their past seven games against the Panthers overall.
Speaking of Florida, the Panthers will be playing just their second game in December after maneuvering 15 in 30 days of November.
Florida is expected to start Sergei Bobrovsky in goal. It will be Bobrovsky’s first work since a 5-1 win in Montreal on Nov. 30.
The victory capped off an amazing month for Bob.
He started 11 of the 15 games, winning a league-leading eight while posting a pair of shutouts.
Entering play Wednesday, Bobrovsky carries a record of 11-6-1 while holding a 2.41 goals against average and 9.12 save percentage.
Here are the projected lines and pairings for the Panthers battle with Dallas:
Evan Rodrigues – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Nick Cousins
Jonah Gadjovich – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
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