SAN JOSE – Swimming with the Sharks.
Making their last stop in California, the Florida Panthers (7-6-1) will take on the San Jose Sharks (6-6-3) at SAP Center on Saturday at 10 p.m. ET.
The first meeting of the season with the Sharks, the Panthers went 2-0-0 in last year’s matchups, with a 3-1 win on Dec.7 and 7-2 win on Jan. 25.
Dating back to the 2018-19 season, the Panthers have won 12-straight against the Sharks.
“They’re a young team that has some good players up front,” Jeff Petry said following the team’s morning skate. “I think knowing that they played last night, even more important to establish our game early on. Get pucks in and make them play a 200-foot game.”
1-1-0 halfway through their four-game West Coast road trip, the Panthers will try to build off their 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
“I think we just stuck to what we’re good at,” said Mackie Samoskevich. “I think just keeping it simple and we’ve been working a lot with it the past couple of weeks, so I think it’s a good step for us to take in that department.”
Scoring twice in the win, Brad Marchand brought his season goal total to nine.
While on a six-game point streak, the 37-year-old winger is also on a three-game goal streak, with four goals during that span.
This season, No. 63 has four multi-point games and has points in 11 of 13 games.
“He’s been performing at his peak for us,” head coach Paul Maurice said of Marchand. “He’s been fantastic.”
Between the pipes for the Panthers, Daniil Tarasov is expected to get the start.
Winners of five of the last seven, the Sharks enter Saturday’s game coming off a 2-1 win at home against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
Tied at 1-1 late into the third period, Will Smith scored the go-ahead with just under five-minutes remaining in the game.
Assisting on the goal, 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini brought his league-leading season point total to 23 points (9G, 14A).
In the last two games, Celebrini has five points (2G, 3A), eight shots, and a +4 plus/minus rating.
“He’s a guy that works hard and has a lot of skill,” Petry said of Celebrini. “We have to make sure he’s not getting the puck clean out of their defensive zone.”
Manning the crease for the Sharks will either be Yaroslav Askerov (3-4-1, .879 save percentage, 3.88 goals against average) or Alex Nedeljkovic (3-2-2, .906 save percentage, 2.96 goals against average).
THEY SAID IT
“He’s obviously a great player, and speed is one thing that I like playing with, and he’s got a lot of it.” – Mackie Samoskevich on chemistry with Sam Bennett
“It’s been good so far. Continuing to build together and making sure we’re communicating on the bench and on the ice.” – Jeff Petry on playing with Donovan Sebrango
FIVE CATS STATS
– Carter Verhaeghe has 12 points (4G, 8A) in 10 career games against the Sharks
– Anton Lundell’s 54.4% faceoff win percentage on the road ranks tenth in the NHL (min. 110 faceoffs)
– All three of Florida’s active Finns – Anton Lundell (1G), Eetu Luostarinen (1A) and Niko Mikkola (2A) – produced at least a point on Nov. 6 against the Kings
– Brad Marchand leads the Panthers in road points with eight points (4G, 4A) in seven games
– Jeff Petry has two assists in the last two games
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
FORWARDS
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
Carter Verhaeghe – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart
Jesper Boqvist – Sam Bennett – Mackie Samoskevich
A.J. Greer – Cole Schwindt – Noah Gregor
DEFENSEMEN
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Donovan Sebrango – Jeff Petry
GOALIES
Daniil Tarasov
Sergei Bobrovsky
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
– Oct. 27: D Tobias Bjornfot reassigned to Charlotte (AHL)
– Oct. 15: D Donovan Sebrango claimed off waivers from Ottawa
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Saturday, November 8 at 10 p.m. ET
Where: SAP Center – San Jose, CA
TV: WSFL, WHDT, WFTX, PanthersPlus.TV
Radio: 104.3 WQAM-FM (Dade/Broward); 106.3 WESP-FM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); Panthers GameDay App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Cats on Tap: Click Here