The Florida Panthers will have their work cut out for them Sunday as they look to rebound from Friday’s Winter Classic loss when they conclude a five-game homestand against the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche, who have won 10 in a row.
Sam Reinhart scored and Sergei Bobrovsky made 15 saves as the Panthers fell 5-1 to the New York Rangers in Miami.
“From the get-go, I thought we might have pushed at times, but they went to the areas that made it difficult in front of our net, and we made it easy in front of theirs,” Reinhart said after the game. “So, that seemed like the difference tonight.”
Florida, sixth in the Atlantic Division, has lost back-to-back games and three of four (1-2-1). The Panthers — the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions — are 2-3-1 over their past six games and 13-9-3 on home ice.
“I liked our push in the third,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “Unusual game for us. The (Rangers) go 2-for-3 (on the power play) … which is 3-for-3 (Aaron Ekblad) was just coming out of the box, so we give up three (short-handed) goals. I don’t know the last time we gave up three short-handed goals in a game.
“There were a couple of things I thought we were a little late on and then some good things we just didn’t connect on, and I don’t want us to lose our focus on that.”
Bobrovsky, Sunday’s likely starter, is 17-10-1 with an .885 save percentage and a 2.84 goals-against average this season in 28 starts.
Sunday is the teams’ second and final regular-season meeting. Nathan MacKinnon, Sam Malinski and Gavin Brindley each had a goal and an assist, while Brock Nelson, Artturi Lehkonen and Gabriel Landeskog also tallied as Colorado thumped visiting Florida 6-2 on Dec. 11.
The Avalanche travel to Florida for the second half of a back-to-back, following an impressive 5-3 come-from-behind victory over the host Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.
With Colorado trailing 3-1 entering the third period, Nelson scored twice and Jack Drury and MacKinnon also found the back of the net as the Avalanche scored four unanswered goals to secure the win.
“It was a great effort; it’d be easy to pack it in,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. “I thought our guys, as soon as the puck hit the ice in the third, they were determined.”
MacKinnon, who leads the league in goals (35) and points (74) over 40 games, added three assists for his 33rd career four-point game and second in as many games. The 30-year-old star has five goals and eight assists over his last four games.
The Avalanche are the fourth team in NHL history to post two double-digit win streaks in the same season. They also won 10 straight from Nov. 4-26. Colorado is two wins shy of tying the franchise record for consecutive victories, set in the 1998-99 campaign.
“It was great to see our guys sort of dig in and do what they needed to do,” Bednar said. “Sometimes you need a little luck with that. We got it tonight, and we were able to get the result.”
Trent Miner, recalled from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on Friday, will likely start between the pipes Sunday. Miner, who has made two appearances with the Avalanche this season, is 0-0-2 with a 2.12 GAA and a .909 save percentage.
–Field Level Media
