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GDT: Canes @ Panthers, 1/2/25, 7pm Eastern

jeffbear

jeffbear

Mod Squad
Staff member
Short and sweet because I've gotta go do some stuff ...

Carolina makes a quick trip to that lovely parking lot in Sunrise Florida for a game with the defending champs. Florida has been on a bit of a weird one this year, as they tend to both win and lose in bunches. Sadly for Carolina, they snapped a 2 game losing streak (both shutouts, FWIW) on Monday against the Rangers. Do games against the current Rangers actually count? No one knows for sure. Florida has been working Knight into the rotation a bit more of late, but there's no reason for the starters not to square off tonight, given the schedule for both teams. Florida is mostly healthy since Barkov got back but the Canes are starting to look like a MASH unit with Jost joining the injured list. He'll be replaced by Jaaska, with Carolina's depth starting to look more and more like the Chicago Wolves.

Look ... tough matchup, especially on road ice, but the Canes tend to show up for the tough ones. Could be fun. Let's find out. Tripp and Mike on the Fanduel call, while out of market folks have the option of ESPN+ if they want to brave Florida's ridiculous homers. Happy New Year, everyone.
 
The Canes open 2025 in south Florida.

Last time out, the Canes blew a 3rd period lead, ultimately losing to Columbus in the shootout. Tyson Jost joined the ranks of the wounded and Juha Jaaska will make his NHL debut. With both Jost and Drury out, we may see Walker running PP2 with Burns as a net front. I’d expect Kochetkov in goal, he didn’t play in either of the late November back to backs, Martin gave up 10 goals and Perets gave up a goal in his NHL debut.

The Panthers are tied for first in the Atlantic, with 48 points in 38 games. They’re 6-4 in their last 10 and coming off a win over the pathetic Rangers on Monday. Sam Reinhart leads with 22 goals, he and Barkov are tied with 23 assists. Carter Verhaege and Sam Bennett are both having tough seasons, while the each have 27 points, they’re -20 and -14, respectively. Bob has started 25 games in goal, he’s at 2.81/.896. Spencer Knight is the backup at 2.87/.887. The Panthers are 6th in goals per game, right behind the Canes. They’re 19th in goals against. They’re 6th on the PP, again right behind the Canes. They’re 16th on the PK.

FanDuel for TV
 
And while it's a bit of a stretch to include Florida, my caveat about how the Canes do against teams that score but don't defend all that well applies tonight as well.
 
Tonight’s officials:

Referees:
Brandon Blandina #39, Kyle Rehman #10

Linesmen:
Tyson Baker #88, Tommy Hughes #65

The Canes are 9-1 with Blandina since 22-23 and 5-1-3 with Rehman, including Tuesday’s game.
 
Canes with an early 1-0 lead thanks to Burns.

PP2 had Burns and Walker but both were on the blue line. One thing to keep in mind with the Panthers PK is that, while their percentage isn’t great, they have 10 shorties, Reinhart has 4 of them.
 
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