Panthers In Winnipeg Looking For First Win Of Road Trip
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WINNIPEG (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – The Florida Panthers find themselves in unfamiliar territory as the calendar flips to March.
The Panthers are squarely in the race for the Atlantic Division title and, with 12 of their final 20 games on the road starting Tuesday at the Winnipeg Jets, they were active leading up to Monday's trade deadline.
Florida made three deals over the weekend to bolster its playoff hopes and Monday shipped forward Brandon Pirri to Anaheim.
Newcomers Jiri Hudler, Teddy Purcell and Jakub Kindl did not play in Sunday's 3-1 loss at Minnesota -- the second straight defeat for the Panthers -- and backup goalie Al Montoya was injured in a first-period collision.
"Injuries have been tough this year," Florida forward Nick Bjugstad told reporters afterward. "We've gotta find ways to win, though, and we've done that for the most part." Winnipeg is looking ahead to next season after dealing captain Andrew Ladd to Chicago on Thursday and dropping five out of six games (1-4-1), capped by Saturday's 4-1 loss at Pittsburgh.
"We've got to learn how to play better defensively," Jets coach Paul Maurice told reporters after Saturday's loss, the sixth time in the past eight games Winnipeg has surrendered three goals or more.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Florida, TSN3 (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (35-19-8): Florida coach Gerard Gallant told the media Montoya's injury was not long term, but the Panthers recalled goalie Mike McKenna on an emergency basis after Roberto Luongo made 21 saves in relief Sunday.
Center Derek MacKenzie landed on injured reserve Sunday with an upper-body injury, but Gallant will get to refresh his lines when the new acquisitions join the team for Tuesday's game.
The Panthers ranked second in the NHL in goals against per game (2.31) through Sunday, and hope Hudler and Purcell can bolster an offense averaging 2.66 goals per contest.
ABOUT THE JETS (26-31-4): Winnipeg ranked 19th in the league in scoring through Sunday, and goals will be a challenge now that Ladd (17 goals, 17 assists before the trade) and Bryan Little (17 goals, 25 assists, out for the year with a neck injury) are gone.
Forward Blake Wheeler is enjoying a solid season, ranking ninth in the league with 39 assists entering Monday.
The Jets have struggled all season slowing opposing offenses, allowing 2.95 goals per contest (sixth-worst in the NHL through Sunday) while also ranking near the bottom of the league on the penalty kill (77.1 percent).
OVERTIME
- Winnipeg D Adam Pardy was claimed off waivers by Edmonton on Monday.
- Panthers C Quinton Howden played Sunday after missing five games with a concussion.
- Luongo made 29 saves and leading scorer Jaromir Jagr had two goals as the Panthers beat the Jets 3-1 at home on Feb. 20.
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