The Florida Panthers will continue their five-game western road trip on Saturday as they face the Calgary Flames, the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Both teams are looking to recover from tough losses in their previous games. The Flames were beaten 8-3 at home by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, while the Panthers suffered a 4-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
After practice on Friday, Calgary coach Ryan Huska described the loss to the Lightning as “uncharacteristic” for his team, which has a 1-2-1 record in its last four games. He believes playing against the defending champions will help his team stay focused.
“I mean, those are the nights you want to play in,” Huska said. “You get them one time in our building. They’re a very good team. There’s a lot of guys on that team that know each other. So, it always makes for a fun night.”
Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Flames with 11 goals and 21 points. He comes into Saturday’s game on a six-game point streak (four goals, five assists), including a goal and an assist in the last two games.
Saturday’s game is the second in a five-game homestand for the Flames, which will take them into the holiday break. As of Friday, the Flames are one point behind the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Earlier on Friday, the Flames called up goalie Devin Cooley from their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers, after Dan Vladar suffered a lower-body injury in Thursday’s game.
The Panthers saw their seven-game point streak (6-0-1) end on Thursday with the loss to the Canucks. Despite outshooting Vancouver 27-19, the Panthers gave up 19 turnovers, which contributed to their first shutout of the season.
Three of the Canucks’ goals came from fast-break opportunities, something Panthers coach Paul Maurice said they need to avoid.
“It’s very difficult to defend off a turnover because you’re in an attack position,” Maurice explained. “Then, when you do turn the puck over, it’s very difficult to get to a defensive position.”
The loss ended a four-game winning streak for Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (13-6-1, 2.87 goals-against average), who has only lost two consecutive starts once this season.
Florida, tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the top spot in the Atlantic Division, is fifth in the league, averaging 3.53 goals per game. Their top three players—center Sam Reinhart (19 goals, 20 assists for 39 points), Matthew Tkachuk (30 points, 10 goals), and Aleksander Barkov (29 points, 20 assists)—all average more than a point per game. Barkov’s seven-game point streak ended in Thursday’s loss.
Tkachuk, who spent his first six seasons in Calgary, has a goal and three assists in four games against his former team.
The Flames will try to stay out of the penalty box against one of the best power-play teams in the league. Florida is tied with Carolina for the fourth-most power-play goals (26), while the Flames have allowed the most power-play goals (27), with the fourth-worst penalty kill rate in the league at 70.7%.
