Florida Panthers hold full team practice at Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 5. The Florida Panthers are looking to bounce back from a frustrating start to their post-All-Star schedule when they host the Washington Capitals on Thursday night at Amerant Bank Arena. Florida is fresh off a 2-1 loss to Philadelphia two nights ago that saw the Panthers out-Panthered, in that the Flyers were able to stymie the Cats' normally flowing offensive push and limit them to a measly three third period shots on goal. Now they'll face a Capitals team desperately trying to save their season. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] Washington currently sits in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division, seven points back of Detroit for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Caps have dropped each of their past give games, and things won't be getting any easier as they try to turn things around. After facing the Panthers, Washington's following three games are against Boston, Vancouver and Colorado. One player the Capitals are not likely looking forward to seeing is Florida captain Sasha Barkov. The Finnish star has an 11-game points streak going when facing the Caps, racking up six goals and 19 points during the run that dates all the way back to February of 2018. In goal, the Panthers are expected to start veteran Sergei Bobrovsky for the first time in nearly two weeks. Bobrovsky hasn't patrolled the goal crease for Florida since Friday, Jan. 26, a 3-2 shootout win in Pittsburgh. He did participate in the NHL All-Star Game and its surrounding festivities, including the Skills Competition, last weekend in Toronto. Entering Thursday's game, Bobrovsky holds a 23-10-2 record to go with a 2.51 goals against average and .910 save percentage. Those 23 wins are good for second-most in the NHL, tied with Edmonton's Stuart Skinner and Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck. Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Thursday's matchup with Washington: 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 [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlSgWaHrRxs[/embed] LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Anthony Duclair holds groundbreaking for synthetic ice surface at South Florida high school [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/anthony-duclair-holds-groundbreaking-for-synthetic-ice-surface-at-south-florida-high-school] Three takeaways: Panthers fail to hit normal stride, Maurice says team wasn't well prepared [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/three-takeaways-panthers-fail-to-hit-normal-stride-maurice-says-team-wasnt-well-prepared] Florida comes out hot, then shut down by Flyers in 2-1 defeat [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/florida-comes-out-hot-then-shut-down-by-flyers-in-2-1-defeat] Ryan Lomberg reveals 'Which teammate is most likely' in fun Q&A [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/ryan-lomberg-reveals-which-teammate-is-most-likely-in-fun-q-a] Panthers welcome Flyers to Sunrise for matchup of teams heading in different directions [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-welcome-flyers-to-sunrise-for-matchup-of-teams-heading-in-different-directions] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
