The Florida Panthers will host the Anaheim Ducks at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday, looking to build on their strong start to the homestand. Florida enters with a 4-1-0 home record after a 3-0 shutout win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Anaheim, at 4-3-1, seeks a rebound following a 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Florida has dominated Anaheim at home, posting a 9-0-1 record in their last 10 meetings there and sweeping the series 2-0 last season with an 8-2 goal differential. The Panthers sit at 5-5-0 overall but have found their rhythm defensively, as evidenced by Saturday's victory where Sergei Bobrovsky earned his 50th career shutout with 17 saves. Sam Reinhart, A.J. Greer and Cole Schwindt, making his season debut, scored the goals, while Florida outshot Vegas 38-18 in scoring chances.
Head coach Paul Maurice emphasized the importance of matchups amid injuries: “I think we like playing at home. With some of our challenges here, the matchup matters more, where it hasn’t in the past.” Defenseman Uvis Balinskis added, “I think we’ve just been doing better work on defense. We worked a little in practice for the offensive zone, and I think it’s been working out.”
Florida will be without forwards Jonah Gadjovich (upper body) and Brad Marchand (personal reasons), but Luke Kunin returns and Noah Gregor makes his season debut. Gregor, who signed a one-year, two-way contract after a tryout, has 70 points (36 goals, 34 assists) in 293 NHL games. “Very excited,” Gregor said. “It's been a long time coming here, waiting around. I'm ready to go. The team's been playing well. I'm excited to get in.” Daniil Tarasov will start in net.
The Ducks arrive on the final stop of a five-game road trip, dealing with injuries to Mikael Granlund (lower body), Radko Gudas (lower body) and Chris Kreider (illness), all day-to-day. Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson lead scoring with nine points each, followed by Granlund's eight (2G, 6A) and seven each from Cutter Gauthier and Mason McTavish. Anaheim lost 4-3 to Tampa Bay after Terry's third-period tie, with Anthony Cirelli scoring the winner on the power play. Goalie options include Lukas Dostal (2-3-1, .899 save percentage) or Petr Mrazek (2-0-0, .831 save percentage).
Maurice noted Anaheim's potential: “They’ve got some players out of their lineup. They’ve got a new coach, young skill, lots of excitement, so they play off that. The danger with all those teams is they can break something loose very quickly on you. You have to skate, but check very hard.” Additional Panthers notes include a 3-0-0 record when Greer scores, Mackie Samoskevich's team-high five power-play points and Anton Lundell's 54.9% faceoff win rate.