Panthers Return Home Looking To Get Back On Track
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SUNRISE (CBSMiami/AP) – The Florida Panthers are hoping a little home cooking will cure what's ailing them.
The Panthers look to end their three-game losing streak when they return home for the first time in a little more than two weeks Monday to face the Edmonton Oilers.
The Panthers have scored a total of three goals while going 0-2-1 since their franchise-record 12-game winning streak, a slide that includes a 3-1 defeat at Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Florida registered 14 of its 27 shots in the final 20 minutes Sunday, prompting coach Gerard Gallant to tell reporters, "That was the most energy we've had in four or five games. We came out and battled."
Gallant hopes that effort carries over against Edmonton, which has earned at least one point in five of its seven games this month (3-2-2) - including three straight (1-0-2) after a 2-1 shootout win versus Calgary on Saturday.
Cam Talbot - who signed a three-year contract extension on Sunday - has raised his level of play, boasting a .942 save percentage in January, with the Oilers managing just 12 goals in their last eight games.
Taylor Hall, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Edmonton's top three scorers - all are going through droughts of late.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Edmonton), FSN Florida
ABOUT THE OILERS (18-23-5): Hall, who will be Edmonton's lone representative at the All-Star Game, leads the team with 42 points but has managed just one (an assist) in his last six games.
Draisaitl (34 points) has recorded only one goal in his last 17 contests and Nugent-Hopkins (29 points) has been kept off the scoresheet in four straight.
Zack Kassian, who recently was acquired from Montreal for Ben Scrivens, has registered four shots in his first two games - including three in 15:53 of ice time on Saturday.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (26-14-5): Defenseman Aaron Ekblad (concussion) is expected to miss his fourth straight game since being on the receiving end of an illegal hit by Edmonton's Matt Hendricks, who was suspended three games after Florida's 2-1 victory on Jan. 10.
Nick Bjugstad notched the team's only goal Sunday, his first in seven games since returning from migraines that kept him sidelined for a month.
Veteran Jaromir Jagr, who leads the team in scoring with 32 points, was held without a shot for the second straight game Sunday and has registered three in a five-game span.
OVERTIME
- Edmonton has won six straight games at Florida – four in shootouts and one in overtime.
- After Panthers G Roberto Luongo played in his 900th career game Sunday, Al Montoya is expected to attempt to extend winning streak to six games on Monday.
- Hendricks is eligible to return after serving his suspension for the high hit on Ekblad.
The Panthers face the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, January 18th at 7:30 p.m. You can hear every game on Sports Radio 560 WQAM, the radio home of the Florida Panthers.
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