The Carolina Hurricanes eye revenge as they travel to Sunrise, Fla., to face the Florida Panthers on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers defeated the Hurricanes 6-3 on Friday in Raleigh, N.C., ending Carolina’s nine-game home winning streak in the first half of a home-and-home set.
Sergei Bobrovsky got the start in goal for the Panthers on Friday afternoon and stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced en route to improving his season record to 11-5-1.
With Bobrovsky playing on Friday, it is likely that Spencer Knight will get the start in net on Saturday.
Knight has a 2.63 goals-against average this season, but he lost each of his past three starts. Bobrovsky owns a 3.04 GAA.
Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft, played in his 700th NHL game during the Friday win and provided two assists.
“What our hope and expectation is that Aaron is going to become that complete all-around two-way defenseman that when we get up the ice, you can score points, you can run a power play, but he’ll play against the other team’s best,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said.
Ekblad played a team-high 27:17 as the Panthers won their second consecutive contest after dropping four straight.
Not only did the Hurricanes lose their home win streak, but top scorer Martin Necas also saw his nine-game home point streak end. Necas, who tallied six goals and 14 assists during the run, was held off the scoresheet despite playing a team-high 22:18.
The Hurricanes came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game late in the second period, but they couldn’t finish the job as the Panthers went on to score three unanswered goals in the third period.
“We have to let go of this one pretty quick and focus on the same team,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said about meeting up with the Panthers again on Saturday. “It’s a battle always against that team, they’re a good team. They play hard, they play smart and they don’t give you anything. So we’re going to have to work for our chances and we’re going to have to come up with a big road win down in Florida.”
The Hurricanes have lost two consecutive road outings (0-1-1) and have had trouble with the Panthers in recent history, only coming out on top in four of the past 14 meetings (4-5-5)between the regular season and the postseason. Florida swept Carolina in four games during the 2023 Eastern Conference finals.
Spencer Martin has started between the pipes for Carolina in four of its past five contests due to injuries to Pyotr Kochetkov (concussion protocol) and Frederik Andersen (knee).
Martin allowed a combined 16 goals over those four starts.
Kochetkov is considered a possibility for the Saturday contest, but if he is still unavailable, the Hurricanes could turn to Yaniv Perets. A part of Quinnipiac’s NCAA championship team in 2023, Perets could be in line for his first career NHL start. He played 12:46 in a relief appearance last season in his lone NHL game.
Both teams have been playing in high-scoring affairs of late. The Hurricanes have scored or allowed four or more goals in 18 consecutive games, while the Panthers have seen 11 of their past 15 contests feature a total of six or more goals.
