What – Game 34 (22-9-1)
When – 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 19
Where – Amerant Bank Arena; Sunrise, FL
How to Watch – FanDuel Sports Network South, SCRIPPS, TVAS

The Carolina Hurricanes are one of the hottest teams in the league currently and winners of five straight, and they’ll look to keep the streak going as they take on the Florida Panthers tonight.

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The Hurricanes are coming off of a 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Wednesday to complete the season sweep, but the one question mark coming out of that game was the status of Jordan Martinook who left early due to injury.

His status is currently unknown.

The Panthers have been dealt one of the toughest hands in terms of injuries with multiple star players having been sidelined long-term.

Despite that, Florida is staying afloat in the playoff race and are winners of their last three as well, most recently beating the LA Kings 3-2 on Wednesday.

Streaks

Alexander Nikihsin (1g, 3a) has points in four-straight games.

Jackson Blake (1g, 2a) has points in back-to-back games.

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Milestone Watch

Jordan Martinook is one goal away from 100 career goals.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi is one point shy of 200 career points.

Jaccob Slavin is one point shy of 300 career points.

Game Notes

Carolina is 74-49-11-10 all-time against Florida, but lost in a five games last season in the Eastern Conference Final.

Former Hurricanes on the Panthers roster include Gustav Forsling (2019-20), Eetu Luostarinen (2019-20) as well as coaches Paul Maurice (1995-03; 2008-11) and Tuomo Ruutu (2008-2014) also share connections with Carolina.

Mike Reilly played in two games for Florida during the 2023-24 season and Shayne Gostisbehere was born 20 miles from Sunrise.

Projected Starting Goalies

Sergei Bobrovsky: 14-8-1; 0.888 Sv%; 2.80 GAA

Brandon Bussi: 11-1-0; 0.911 Sv%; 2.05 GAA

Leading Scorers

Goals – Seth Jarvis (19) / Sam Reinhart (17)

Points – Sebastian Aho (29) / Brad Marchand (37)

Power PlayPenalty Kill

Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastian Aho – Seth Jarvis
Nikolaj Ehlers – Logan Stankoven – Jackson Blake
William Carrier – Jordan Staal – Jordan Martinook
Taylor Hall – Mark Jankowski – Eric Robinson

K’Andre Miller – Sean Walker
Shayne Gostisbehere – Jalen Chatfield
Jaccob Slavin – Alexander Nikishin

Brandon Bussi
Frederik Andersen

Injuries and Scratches: Mike Reilly, Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
Mackie Samoskevich – Evan Rodrigues – A.J. Greer
Noah Gregor – Luke Kunin – Jesper Boqvist

Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry

Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov

Injuries and Scratches: Aleksander Barkov (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (UBI), Dmitry Kulikov (UBI), Tomas Nosek (knee), Cole Schwindt (arm), Matthew Tkachuk (groin)

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