LAS VEGAS – The final stop.
Closing out their four-game West Coast road trip, the Florida Panthers (7-7-1) will take on the Vegas Golden Knights (7-3-4) on Monday at T-Mobile Arena at 10 p.m. ET.
The second and final regular season meeting between the two teams, the Panthers took the first one on Oct. 25 at Amerant Bank Arena with a 3-0 win.
A 17-save shutout from Sergei Bobrovsky in the win, the Panthers saw goals from A.J. Greer, Cole Schwindt, and Sam Reinhart.
Since their 2023 Stanley Cup Final loss, the Panthers are 4-1-0 against the Golden Knights.
“It’s certainly respect,” head coach Paul Maurice said following the team’s morning skate on Monday. “When you get beat by them, it’s still there. You still remember that series. We know what it’s like to be in here and it was a driver for us. That memory, that pain, I think set us on the course for the next two years.”
Currently 1-2-0 on the road trip, the Panthers enter Monday’s game coming off a 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks.
Doing everything they could to win the game, the Panthers outshot the Sharks 33-9 after the first period.
“We had plenty of chances to capitalize, but that’s how it goes sometimes,” Brad Marchand said after the game.
Scoring the lone Panthers goal, Marchand extended his point streak to seven games and goal streak to four.
Assisting on the goal, Eetu Luostarinen extended his point streak to five games.
The two-way forward has points in seven of the last eight games.
“I know that he can do it,” Maurice said of Luostarinen’s game. “Eetu doesn’t cheat the game, doesn’t cheat for points. If we can get a good, hard, defensive player that gets on a bit of a confident roll, as he should, we’re excited about that.”
Taking line rushes during morning skate, it appears Luke Kunin will draw back into the lineup for Noah Gregor.
Kunin has an assist, 16 hits, and 12 blocked shots in 10 games this season.
Sergei Bobrovsky will be between the pipes for the Panthers.
In his career against Vegas, Bobrovsky owns a 7-3-0 record, .910 save percentage, and 2.44 goals against average.
2-3-2 in their last seven games, Vegas enters the game coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.
Picking up an assist in the loss, Jack Eichel recorded his third assist in the last two games.
On top of the stat sheet for Vegas, Eichel leads the team with 22 points (8G, 14A).
“He's got one of the best shots in the league, especially for a pass first kind of guy,” Reinhart said of his former Buffalo Sabres teammate. “I think the whole league is kind of seeing that.”
Also producing for Vegas, first year Golden Knight Mitch Marner has picked up 18 points (4G, 14A) and leads the team with a +9 plus/minus rating.
Carl Lindbom is expected to get the start for Vegas in net.
This season, Lindbom is 0-2-1, with a .873 save percentage and 3.36 goals against average.
THEY SAID IT
“I think our game is in the right spot. We've done a lot of good things the past couple games, and it's just not getting frustrated, and just doing the right things over and over again. The results will come.” – Even Rodrigues on team’s game
“I think our pace and intensity was a high-level right from puck drop.” Sam Reinhart on the team’s play against Vegas on Oct. 25
FIVE CATS STATS
- Sam Reinhart has 14 points (8G, 6A) in 15 career games against the Golden Knights
- A.J. Greer leads the team with 50 hits
- Anton Lundell has points in six of the last eight games
- 16 of the Panthers 39 goals have come in the third period
- Niko Mikkola leads the team with 22 blocked shots
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
FORWARDS
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
Carter Verhaeghe – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart
Jesper Boqvist – Sam Bennett – Mackie Samoskevich
A.J. Greer – Cole Schwindt – Luke Kunin
DEFENSEMEN
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Donovan Sebrango – Jeff Petry
GOALIES
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Oct. 27: D Tobias Bjornfot reassigned to Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Monday, November 10 at 10 p.m. ET
Where: T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, NV
TV: WSFL, WHDT, WFTX, PanthersPlus.TV
Radio: 560 WQAM-AM (Dade/Broward); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); Panthers GameDay App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Cats on Tap: Click Here
