Cats open huge five-game homestand in need of a win
After playing nine of its 11 games away from the friendly confines of FLA Live Arena, the Florida Panthers (23-21-6) will kick off a five-game homestand tonight against the Los Angeles Kings (27-17-6) in suburban Sunrise.
Things couldn’t have gone any worse for the idle Cats last night as the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh in overtime, leaving Florida six points behind the Capitals and five behind the Penguins. And to rub a little more salt in the wound, the Buffalo Sabres won, too.
The Kings enter Friday night’s game halfway through a six-game road trip. After dropping the first game of the trek east to Nashville, they have posted one-goal wins over lowly Chicago and Philadelphia. Los Angeles is a dog fight to finish top-three in the Pacific Division and guarantee themselves a second straight postseason appearance.
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: FLA Live Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Bally Sports Florida-X, Bally Sports West
- ON THE DIAL: WPOW 96.5-FM HD2 (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #GoKingsGo, #LAKvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Jewels From The Crown
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 2 (0-1-0)
- LAST MEETING: @LAK 5, FLA 4 – (Recap) 11/5/2022
- NEXT MEETING: Stanley Cup of 2023-24 regular season
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Sergei Bobrovsky (12-13-2 .897/3.24 0SO) vs Pheonix Copley (14-3-0 .897/2.80 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Los Angeles
Friday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances):
- DETROIT (21-18-1 50P) at NY Islanders (23-22-5 51P) 7 p.m. (ESPN)
- OTTAWA (21-23-3 45P) at TORONTO (30-11-8 68P) 7 p.m.
Idle: BOS (80P), TBL (63P), BUF (55P), OTT (45P)
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