Over the Florida Panthers’ past 12 games, their forward line of Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe and Brad Marchand has combined for 44 points.
That group figures to be together again on Friday night when the Panthers play host to the Carolina Hurricanes in Sunrise, Fla.
Florida, which is 6-1-0 over its past seven games, is expected to start goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who rested on Wednesday as the Panthers edged the visiting Los Angeles Kings, 3-2.
For the season, Bobrovsky is 14-8-1 with a 2.80 goals-against average and three shutouts.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said his squad — the NHL’s two-time reigning Stanley Cup champions — is trying to survive despite a multitude of injuries, most notably to star forwards Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov.
Tkachuk is expected to return in late December or early January, and he may be joined by some other teammates.
“We’re getting closer to getting some guys back,” Maurice said. “(In the meantime), winning is everything. It gives us some confidence.”
Verhaeghe, who has scored nine goals over his past 11 games, said the Panthers are prepared to grind out victories.
“We’re comfortable playing tight games,” Verhaeghe said.
Asked about the standings and Florida’s attempt to climb them, Verhaeghe acknowledged that the Eastern Conference is “tight.”
Added Verhaeghe: “We watch (the standings) a little bit. But the most important thing is how we play.”
One Panthers concern that came out of Wednesday’s game was a lower-body injury sustained by forward Evan Rodrigues. Maurice, though, said he does not consider the injury serious.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have made the playoffs seven straight years. But during that span, they never made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. They can, in part, blame the Panthers for this. Florida ended Carolina’s season in 2023 and again in 2025 in the conference finals.
It’s a new season, however, and the Hurricanes enter Friday’s matchup leading the Eastern Conference with 46 points and riding five straight wins. During the current streak, Carolina has allowed just 1.8 goals per game.
The Hurricanes have used three goalies this season: Brandon Bussi, who has an 11-1-0 record and a 2.05 GAA, Pyotr Kochetkov (6-1-0, 1.95) and Frederik Andersen (5-7-2, 3.15), who appears to be slowing down at age 36.
Bussi, a New York native, is quite a story. The 27-year-old rookie was signed by the Panthers in July. Three months later, the Panthers released him and Carolina picked up his contract when Kochetkov needed to go on injured reserve.
Offensively, the Hurricanes are led in goals by Seth Jarvis (19), in points by Sebastian Aho (29) and in assists by defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (21). Jarvis is working on what would be his third straight season with 30-plus goals.
Aho has led the Hurricanes in scoring seven of the past eight seasons.
Gostisbehere leads a Carolina defense that also includes standouts Jaccob Slavin and K’Andre Miller. Slavin returned to the lineup on Sunday after missing 29 games due to a lower-body injury.
“Sometimes being injured is harder than the grind of the season,” Slavin said.
Miller, a former first-round pick, was traded by the New York Rangers to the Hurricanes on July 1. He was a plus-1 in Carolina’s 4-1 win over Nashville on Wednesday.
“I thought we had a great game,” said eighth-year Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour, who has yet to miss the playoffs with this franchise. “We were good.”
–Field Level Media
