Florida Panthers vs New York Islanders
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Florida, MSG-Plus (New York)
PREDICTION: Panthers 3, Islanders 2

Oddsmakers currently have the FLORIDA listed as 115-moneyline favorites versus the NY ISLANDERS, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

NEW YORK — The last time the New York Islanders hosted the Florida Panthers was April 24, when Islanders captain John Tavares authored the most dramatic hockey moment the Barclays Center has seen by scoring in double overtime to give New York a series-winning victory over the Panthers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Tavares’ dramatic goal will seem a lot further away than a mere 270 days Wednesday night, when the reeling Islanders host the Panthers in the lone game between the teams this season at Barclays Center.

The Islanders fell to the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 in a shootout Saturday. It was the second straight 2-1 loss to a Western Conference also-ran for New York (15-15-8), which lost in overtime to Colorado on Friday.

The losing streak has stalled the momentum the Islanders created before their “bye week,” which they entered off a 4-1-0 stretch. New York has the fewest points in the Eastern Conference a season after reaching the conference semifinals for the first time since 1993.

“Before the break, everything seemed to be going in for us,” Shane Prince told Newsday following Saturday’s loss. “It’s obviously frustrating to get two points and only score two goals.”

The Islanders won’t be alone Wednesday in feeling as if last spring happened long ago. The Panthers, who reached the playoffs in 2015-16 for only the second time in the last 15 seasons, are two points out of third place in the Atlantic Division. But Florida (18-16-8) is only 7-7-7 since Tom Rowe replaced Gerard Gallant, who was fired following an 11-9-1 start.

The Panthers are coming off a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Monday, when goalie Roberto Luongo moved into fifth place on the NHL’s all-time list by earning the 448th victory of his career.

Afterward, Luongo was more concerned with the Panthers’ perilous standing in the Eastern Conference than his place in NHL history.

“I think right now, I just want to get some wins,” Luongo said. “Our goal is to make the playoffs, so that’s what my focus is on, 100 percent. The other things will take care of (themselves) and we’ll reflect on them when it’s all said and done. But as a group, we have one goal in mind, and that’s to play good every night, keep collecting some point and try to get back in this thing.”

Luongo is likely to oppose Thomas Greiss in a rematch of the starting goalies in last spring’s playoff series. Greiss, who became the Islanders’ unquestioned starter when Jaroslav Halak was waived Dec. 30 and eventually assigned to Bridgeport of the American Hockey League, stopped 63 of the 66 shots he faced in regulation and overtime of New York’s last two defeats.

The game Wednesday is the first of two straight between the Islanders and Panthers, who oppose each other in Sunrise, Fla., on Friday.

The post Florida vs NY Islanders Odds & Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

Winnipeg Jets vs. Florida Panthers
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One, Sportsnet Pacific (Winnipeg), FSN Florida
PREDICTION: Jets 4, Panthers 3

Oddsmakers currently have the Panthers listed as 165-moneyline favorites versus the Jets, while the game’s total is sitting at 5½.

SUNRISE, Fla. — Too bad Aleksander Barkov and Patrik Laine won’t be able to meet on the ice Wednesday night at the BB&T Center.

Both are big, talented and young forwards from Tampere, Finland. Both were the No. 2 overall selections in recent NHL drafts — Barkov to the Florida Panthers in 2013 and Laine to the Winnipeg Jets in 2016.

But when the Jets (18-19-3) visit the Panthers (16-14-8) on Wednesday, Barkov is expected to miss the game due to a lower body injury.

During last fall’s World Cup of Hockey 2016 at Toronto, Barkov, 21, played on a Finnish line with Laine, 18, and Sebastian Aho, 19.

Barkov, who is almost always the youngest player on his Panthers line that also includes 44-year-old legend Jaromir Jagr, said it felt odd to play with two younger guys in the World Cup.

“I usually play with Jagr, and he’s 65-year-old,” Barkov joked as he met with the media in Toronto this past September. “It was weird. I was the oldest guy on the line, and I’m only 21.”

Barkov, who suffered an unspecified injury on Dec. 28 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, set career highs last season in goals (28), assists (31) and points (59) in 66 games.

This season, he has nine goals and 18 assists for 27 points in 36 games, establishing himself as one of the league’s best two-way centers.

Laine, pronounced Lie-nay, has already earned a reputation for one of the hardest shots in hockey.

“I’ve never seen a guy shoot the puck like that,” Jets veteran coach Paul Maurice told the media recently.

Among NHL rookies this season, Laine is tied for the lead with Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs in terms of most goals (20), assists (14) and points (34).

Laine is part of an impressive list of players drafted No. 1 or No. 2 overall in the past four years, including Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Matthews, Barkov, Nathan Mackinnon, Sam Reinhart and Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad.

Already this season, Laine has two hat tricks — in his fourth NHL game against the Toronto Maple Leafs and again in Game No. 14 against the Dallas Stars. Both of those performances were home games for Winnipeg.

Laine, though, hasn’t been able to do much to help a defense that ranks 27th in the NHL in killing penalties and 29th in number of goals allowed.

The defense was not very good again on Tuesday night but the Jets managed to outscore the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-4.

Laine had one goal and two assists against Tampa Bay as his confidence continues to grow.

“I’ve seen that I can play in this league,” Laine told the media. “I’ve seen that I can play against the best in the world. My teammates agree with me, and that is the most important thing for me.”

Laine, locked in a battle with McDavid for NHL Rookie of the Year honors, is an intense athlete who is not happy at all whenever he doesn’t score.

Imagine his mood when he got off to a slow start in the exhibition season, but he has been rolling ever since.

“It’s a dream come true to be in the NHL,” Laine told The Chicago Tribune recently. “I want to show everyone that I’m a good player. Hopefully I can be the best one day.”

Other story lines for Wednesday’s game:

= Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo is expected to get the start and if so will attempt for the third time to get win No. 448, which would put him in fifth place in the all-time NHL list.

= Going against a trend, Winnipeg outscored Tampa Bay 3-1 in the second period on Sunday. Prior to that, the Jets had outscored opponents 52-25 in the second period.

= The Jets beat the Panthers 4-3 in a shootout on Dec. 15 Bryan Little scored the tying goal and then scored again in the shootout to lead Winnipeg.

= Jets defenseman Tyler Myers is nearing a return. He has missed 24 games this season due to a lower-body injury. However, he had a light on-ice workout on Tuesday.

The post Winnipeg vs. Florida Odds & Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Florida Panthers
When: 7:30 PM ET, Thursday, December 8, 2016
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), FSN Florida
PREDICTION: Panthers 4, Penguins 3

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers want to be the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It is not just that the Penguins are the reigning Stanley Cup champions, but how they won.

The Penguins fired their coach (Mike Johnston) on Dec. 12, 2015, and replaced him with Mike Sullivan, who was running their American Hockey League affiliate. The Penguins got hot after that and won the Stanley Cup.

The Panthers fired their coach (Gerard Gallant) on Nov. 27, 2016, and replaced him with Tom Rowe, who ran their AHL affiliate the past three years.

That, however, is where the similarities end, at least so far.

Rowe, who is also the Panthers’ general manager, has lost four of the five games since Gallant was dismissed, although the Panthers got the overtime point in three of those defeats.

On Thursday night, the Panthers — fittingly enough — will play host to the Penguins at the BB&T Center in their first home game since Gallant was dumped.

In the most recent game, Florida (12-11-4) took a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, who got a goal from Jakub Voracek with 8.6 seconds left in overtime Tuesday.

“I told the guys after the game, as frustrating as it is, and as down as some of you may be, there are too many positives here to get down,” Rowe said. “We will keep building on what we started.”

Just what the Panthers are producing under Rowe is dubious. The fact remains that the Panthers won their first Atlantic Division last season under Gallant, setting franchise records for wins (47) and points (103).

But there must be something about the phrase, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” that the Panthers don’t understand.

Immediately after the triumphant 2015-2016 season, the Panthers thought it was best to replace their GM, Dale Tallon, who built the team, piece by piece, since getting hired in May 2010. Tallon was moved upstairs to team president, taking him out of the business of having final say on personnel decisions.

Rowe took over for Tallon. And it was Rowe — with perhaps a large say-so from team owners — who pressed the panic button on Gallant.

That type of move worked wonders last season for the Penguins. Then again, the Penguins have things the Panthers simply do not — such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and more.

On Wednesday, the Penguins (16-7-3) made a couple of roster moves, sending forward Jake Guentzel and defenseman Derrick Pouliot to their AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton affiliate.

“We don’t want our young players on the sidelines,” Sullivan said Wednesday. “It’s important for these guys to continue to play games in order to develop.”

Part of the problem for Guentzel and Pouliot is actually not a problem at all for the Penguins, which is to say the team’s veterans are healthy and no AHL reinforcements are needed at the moment.

Pittsburgh is riding a three-game winning streak, scoring 19 goals during that span. Perhaps this hot streak will be a perfect time for the Penguins to improve on their mediocre 5-5-2 road record.

Certainly, the Panthers, who are likely to be without dangerous right winger Jonathan Marchessault (lower-body injury) are vulnerable.

Then again, the Panthers haven’t quit — not by a long shot. An example of Florida’s toughness was displayed this week by defenseman Keith Yandle, who was hit by a puck Monday in a loss to the Boston Bruins.

Rather than sit out with a leg injury, Yandle extended his consecutive-games-played streak to 578. It is the 10th-longest streak in NHL history.

“He could have mailed it in, and no one would have said a word,” Rowe said. “It’s great for our young players to see that.”

The post Pittsburgh vs Florida Odds & Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

Florida Panthers vs Boston Bruins
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, December 5, 2016
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet, TVA, FSN Florida, NESN (Boston)
PREDICTION: Bruins 3, Panthers 2

“I feel good,” Rask told reporters after making a season-high 35 saves in the 2-1 victory over Buffalo on Saturday. “I’m seeing the puck well. Guys are doing a great job keeping them on the outside and clearing the rebounds for the most part, so that helps out.” Rask is 16-3-1 in 20 career games against the Panthers, who join Boston in the bottom-third of the league in scoring. Florida is 1-1-1 since general manager Tom Rowe took over as coach for the fired Gerard Gallant and has managed just two goals in regulation during that span. Leading scorer Jonathan Marchessault (10 goals, 19 points) suffered a lower-body injury in the Panthers’ 2-0 loss at Ottawa on Saturday and is day-to-day.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (12-11-2): Florida ends a tumultuous six-game road trip with the Atlantic Division battle against the Bruins and Tuesday’s contest in Philadelphia after scoring only five times over the first four contests. Vincent Trocheck and defenseman Aaron Ekblad are tied for second on the team in goals with six and Aleksander Barkov trails only Marchessault with 15 points. The Panthers are awaiting the first point of the season from center Nick Bjugstad, who missed the first 19 games with a broken hand.

ABOUT THE BRUINS (14-10-1): Boston has scored fewer than three goals in 18 of its 25 games this season and is 0-for-10 on the power play over the last three contests, dropping to 23rd in the league (14.3 percent) after Saturday’s action. David Pastrnak is among the league leaders with 13 goals – nine of them coming in a 12-game span before notching an assist in each of his last two contests. Matt Beleskey (lower body) left Saturday’s contest and veteran defenseman Zdeno Chara (lower body) could miss his seventh straight game.

OVERTIME

1. Florida recalled RW Paul Thompson from Springfield of the American Hockey League on Sunday with Marchessault banged up.

2. Boston LW Brad Marchand leads the team with 21 points, but only six have come in 11 home games.

3. Panthers RW Jaromir Jagr has notched 12 points this season to push his career total to 1,880 – seven shy of tying Mark Messier for second place on the all-time list.

The post Florida Panthers vs Boston Bruins Odds & Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

Pouliot scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, lifting the Lightning to a 6-5 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday.

The Lightning ended a six-game losing streak and got their first victory since Feb. 1, against Winnipeg, after opening the season at 6-1.

On the winning score, the puck bounced off the end boards and out to Pouliot, who was open in front. His wrist shot went into the net 1:19 into overtime.

“I was surprised it came back in front,” Pouliot said. “I just put my head down and went to the net. It made a weird bounce and came back out to me and I just put it in. Coming out of here with a big win like this; it’s going to be huge for us.”

Steven Stamkos also scored twice, and Purcell and Alex Killorn each had a goal for the Lightning. Anders Lindback made 25 saves.

Purcell’s goal with 11 seconds left in regulation tied it 5-all as his shot from the slot hit off the post and into the net. Purcell was camped in front of the Panthers’ net as players scrambled for control of the puck while the final seconds of regulation ticked off, and was rewarded for his effort.

“I knew the puck was going to come out to the front,” Purcell said. “I was just trying to get a little space away from the defenders, and I was luckily uncovered and I was able to one-time it on net.”

Tomas Kopecky and Jonathan Huberdeau scored third-period goals to give the Panthers a lead they couldn’t hold. Jerred Smithson, Jack Skille, and Shawn Matthias also had goals for the Panthers and Jose Theodore stopped 30 shots. Mike Weaver had two assists and Matthias also had an assist.

Florida lost its fourth straight and third in a row in overtime.

“We’re not finishing,” Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. “You’re not going to get in the playoffs with 48 points. You can’t try to get a point a game; it’s just not going to work. We’ve got to find a way a more complete effort and end up with two points.”

The Panthers got two goals early in the third to build a 5-3 lead.

The tiebreaking score came on the efforts of a couple of rookies as Drew Shore passed across the crease in front to Huberdeau, who redirected it into the net at 1:53 for his sixth goal of the season. Kopecky’s shot from the right side of the net put the Panthers ahead by two at 3:24.

Stamkos’ second goal came during a 4-on-3 power play and closed the score to 5-4. His slap shot from the left circle rifled past Theodore at 7:28. Stamkos has nine goals and three assists over a seven-game point streak against the Panthers.

“At that point of the game, you have to put teams away,” Smithson said. “You have to work to get that puck out, you have to do things the hard way. We obviously didn’t do it and let another point slip away.”

Trailing 3-2, Florida tied it in the waning seconds of the second period when Smithson poked in a rebound with 5 seconds left.

The Panthers tied it 2-all in the second on Skille’s goal at 2:27. The Lightning regained the lead quickly. Stamkos pounced on a rebound in front of the Panthers net and backhanded the puck past Theodore a little over a minute later to make it 3-2.

“We never quit. That’s never a question and never will be a question and we showed it again tonight,” Stamkos said. “We finally got a bounce our way on the overtime goal. Hopefully, this sparks some momentum and will help us moving forward.”

The Panthers, who were shut out in their last game, wasted no time changing that trend, taking a 1-0 lead 48 seconds in. Weaver took a shot from just inside the blue line on the right side. Matthias deflected the puck past Lindback.

The Lightning tied it at 1 on Pouliot’s first goal. Vincent Lecavalier passed the puck from behind the net out to Pouliot in front, who wristed in into the net at 4:48. The Lightning took a 2-1 lead on Killorn’s first career goal at 6:51 of the first.

“It felt really good. It was not a great shot or anything like that, but that’s usually how the first one goes in,” Killorn said. “I’m just happy that I was able to provide for the team.”

Game notes

Panthers W Kris Versteeg missed his second consecutive game with an upper body injury. … Lindback returned in net for Tampa Bay after missing Thursday’s game against Washington because of illness. … Lecavalier has recorded a point in four straight games.

The post Benoit Pouliot’s 2nd goal helps Lightning snap 6-game skid in OT appeared first on IdealCapper.

Coach Lindy Ruff said before the game that Sekera will miss at least a few days and potentially longer.

Sekera was hurt Saturday, when he was struck in the leg by Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin’s shot in the first period of a 6-1 loss at Montreal. Sekera played a few more shifts before missing the final two periods.

The Sabres are already missing veteran defenseman Robyn Regehr (lower body), who will miss his fourth straight game. Ruff said Regehr is expected to return to practice this week.

The Panthers opened a four-game road trip minus defenseman Ed Jovanovski (lower body) and forward Scottie Upshall (lower body).

The post Sabres rule out Andrej Sekera appeared first on IdealCapper.