George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers packed up their three-game winning streak and flew it across North America on Saturday and will put it on the line tonight against the Seattle Kraken.
Seattle helped its playoff push on Saturday with a 5-2 win in Vancouver — just its third win in nine games since the Olympic break.
Still, in the muddled Western Conference, the Kraken are right in the thick of the playoff chase coming into tonight a point back of San Jose for the final wild-card spot.
The Kraken and the Panthers both have the same amount of points (69) but have very different playoff outlooks.
While Seattle comes into tonight a point out of a playoff spot, the Panthers are 11 back of both Boston and Detroit.
The Panthers will be missing some of their top players tonight with Sam Reinhart not making the trip and Sam Bennett getting the night off to get an extra day for an undisclosed injury.
Florida could have a few familiar faces back in the lineup Tuesday in Vancouver with Bennett, Seth Jones, and Uvis Balinskis all possibilities to return.
NOTES: PANTHERS at KRAKEN
- The Panthers called up forward Nolan Foote from Charlotte for tonight’s game.
Starting Goalies: The Panthers didn’t have a morning skate with the 5 p.m. local puck drop. Due to the long flight, we’re thinking Daniil Tarasov goes tonight. Joey Daccord should start for the Kraken. - How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are on local television tonight. You can stream the game on Panthers+ locally and ESPN+ outside the South Florida market.
- NHL Betting Odds: The Panthers are favorites (-125) on the money line at the local book. If you think Florida will win, a $125 wager is worth $100.
ON DECK: GAME No. 66
FLORIDA PANTHERS at SEATTLE KRAKEN
- When: Sunday, 8 p.m.
- Where: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle
- Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
- Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
- Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Local Betting Odds — Panthers Favored: MoneyLine (-125); Puck Line -1.5 (+180); O/U 6.5 (+105/-130)
- Season Series — At Seattle: Sunday. At Florida: Feb. 22.
- Last Season: Tied 1-1
- All-Time Regular Season Series: Seattle leads 5-3-0
- Up Next for the Panthers: Tuesday at Vancouver Canucks, 10 p.m.
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (33-29-3) LINES
27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 19 Matthew Tkachuk
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 17 Evan Rodrigues // 11 Mackie Samoskevich
29 Cole Reinhardt // 92 Tomas Nosek // 10 A.J. Greer
70 Jesper Boqvist // 71 Luke Kunin // 24 Vinnie Hinostroza
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
77 Niko Mikkola // 20 Mike Benning
6 Donovan Sebrango // 7 Dmitry Kulikov
40 Daniil Tarasov
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Nolan Foote
Injured: Sam Reinhart (undisclosed), Sam Bennett (undisclosed), Uvis Balinskis (lower body), Brad Marchand (lower body), Seth Jones (collarbone), Aleksander Barkov (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)
PROJECTED SEATTLE KRAKEN (30-26-9) LINES
74 Bobby McMann // 10 Matty Beniers // 7 Jordan Eberle
19 Jared McCann // 9 Chandler Stephenson // 20 Eeli Tolvanen
27 Berkly Catton // 51 Shane Wright // 84 Kappo Kaako
59 Ben Meyers // 89 Frederick Gaudreau // 63 Jacob Melanson
29 Vince Dunn // 6 Adam Larsson
24 Jamie Oleksiak // 62 Brandon Montour
41 Ryker Evans // 55 Ryan Lindgren
35 Joey Daccord
31 Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Josh Mahura, Cale Fleury, Matt Murray, Ryan Winterton
Injured: Jaden Schwartz (upper body)