The Florida Panthers will try to stretch their win streak to three games when they play host to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday in Sunrise, Fla.
Florida is coming off a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in its home opener on Thursday night.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves in the victory and passed John Vanbiesbrouck for second in wins (107) in franchise history.
“You can appreciate it more after your career,” said Bobrovsky, 35. “Right now, I enjoy to be in this locker room and be part of this team. I’m so happy and I just want to take every day and savor the moment.”
Bobrovsky is 2-2-0 with a 2.81 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage in four games this season.
Panthers forward Sam Reinhart enters Saturday’s contest with goals in three straight games and has a team-leading four goals and six points through four games.
Sam Bennett did not play in Florida’s win over Toronto and remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
The Panthers, who reached the Stanley Cup Final last spring and fell to the Vegas Golden Knights, also picked up a road win over the New Jersey Devils earlier in the week after opening the season with a pair of losses.
“We just started the season with four playoff teams, and I’ve liked three of our four games,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “In the last two, they were elite offensive teams, and we had to scratch and claw. It wasn’t perfect. It’s not going to look pretty, but the understanding and acceptance by your leadership that you can’t be casually wading into the first part of the season is critical.”
The Canucks are aiming to avoid a third straight loss after opening the season with a pair of wins over the Edmonton Oilers.
After a 2-0 loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, Vancouver enters this contest off a 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. It will be the fourth game of a five-game road trip.
“We just have to get back to what we were doing in the preseason and to start the season,” Canucks captain Quinn Hughes said. “I think we all know how we need to play. It’s not a guessing game for us. It’s just about executing that.”
The effort on offense was better against Tampa Bay than in the shutout loss to the Flyers, after which coach Rick Tocchet went off on his team.
“We just have some guys, they’ve got to pick it up,” Tocchet said that night. “I don’t like to use the word ‘soft,’ but I just didn’t see guys competing, and that’s alarming.”
Forward Brock Boeser has a team-high five goals through four games, while Elias Pettersson leads the Canucks with seven assists and eight points.
Goaltender Thatcher Demko is 1-2-0 with a 2.57 GAA and a .930 save percentage in three games this season.
–Field Level Media
