Florida Panthers: Game Preview, Lineups for Dec. 7 Game vs. San Jose Sharks
The Florida Panthers look to extend their point streak to six games against rookie phenom Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks.
The Florida Panthers are facing a challenge they have faced plenty of times this season with the San Jose Sharks coming to town.
On paper, the Sharks sit near the bottom of the Western Conference and are still knee-deep in a rebuild — which presents the issue for the Panthers.
The defending Stanley Cup champions have had a tendency to loosen up defensively in games against opponents on the outside looking in of the playoff picture. And with the target on their back with that newfound title, they have been caught off guard by the effort of these opponents at times.
They have routinely had games — like their 6-0 shutout of the Carolina Hurricanes a week ago — where they looked like their study, dominant selves. And other games like the past two against the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins where the mistakes piled up and they weren’t as tight on that end of the ice.
And with the sneaky amount of firepower San Jose has, they will need to be on the lookout for that.
“I think those style of teams play their style,” Eetu Luostarinen said. “They play really fast, they make plays and we just have to be aware and have that defensive mindset that these teams are going to play hard against us. We need to be ready to play.”
After finishing with the worst record in the NHL last year, San Jose has become a much more competitive team. And that comes with the territory when you draft a generational talent in Macklin Celebrini with the first overall pick.
The 18-year-old has eight goals and 15 points in 17 games this season, including a stretch where he had eight points on a five-game point streak before it ended in an 8-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday.
Florida is prepping for the rookie phenom just as they would any superstar talent.
“We’ve got enough [video,] and the way to handle it is to remove the birth certificate,” coach Paul Maurice said. “You get any player playing very well, they are going to be hard to handle — [Nathan] MacKinnon, any of them — so, you get [Aleksander] Barkov going. Whether he’s 18 or 22, he’s just a great hockey player.
“I like the way he plays the game. I haven’t seen a whole lot of him, just pre-scout videos and things like that, but he looks like he is going to be a very dynamic and skilled player who doesn’t cheat the game to put up points. He’s interested in playing the game the right way, and I love those young guys that come in [that way.] They’re going to be good. You get one of those, you get a Barkov, and you can build your team around him.”
THE NEWS
Sergei Bobrovsky has returned from paternity leave and will start in goal for the Panthers against the Sharks tonight.
Chris Driedger was returned to AHL Charlotte and Mackie Samoskevich is back on the NHL roster. Samoskevich and Uvis Balisnkis will draw back into the lineup while Adam Boqvist and Jonah Gadjovich will come out.
Today’s game will air at 7:00 p.m. EST and will be broadcasted on Scripps Sports and the Panthers Plus app. It will also be available on ESPN+ for out-of-market viewers.
For more information on how to catch Panthers games this season, visit nhl.com/panthers/info/how-to-watch.
PANTHERS PROJECTED LINEUP
Carter Verhaeghe — Aleksander Barkov — Sam Reinhart
Jesper Boqvist — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Evan Rodrigues
A.J. Greer — Tomas Nosek — Mackie Samoskevich
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Nate Schmidt
Dmitry Kulikov — Uvis Balinskis
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
Scratched: Adam Boqvist, Jonah Gadjovich
SAN JOSE SHARKS PROJECTED LINEUP
Kim Kostin — Macklin Celebrini — Tyler Toffoli
Luke Kunin — Alex Wennberg — Fabian Zetterlund
William Eklund — Mikael Granlund — Will Smith
Carl Grundstrom — Nico Sturm — Ty Dellandrea
Jake Walman — Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro — Timothy Liljegren
Jack Thompson — Jan Rutta
Mackenzie Blackwood
Vitek Vanecek
(Lines via DailyFaceoff.com)
*Opposing team lines subject to change.