Jagr, Panthers Begin Season-Long Six Game Road Trip In Carolina
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RALIEGH (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – Things appear to be finally turning around for the Florida Panthers after an up-and-down start to the season.
Florida went 3-1-0 on their last road trip and look to continue their success away from home when they begin a season-high six-game trek Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Panthers posted victories in Montreal, Ottawa and New York (against the Rangers) during a trip that ended last Sunday after winning just one of its first six road contests this season.
They begin this latest excursion on the heels of a 2-1 shootout triumph at home against Columbus on Saturday.
The Panthers have been held to just one goal in two straight games, however, and Aleksander Barkov - who netted a career-high 28 tallies last season - has gone 19 contests without one after scoring in each of his first two matches of 2016-17.
Carolina will be attempting to avoid its second three-game slide of the month after being edged at Ottawa on Saturday.
The Hurricanes had posted a five-game winning streak before suffering back-to-back 2-1 losses to Montreal and the Senators, which have prevented them from climbing a spot in the Metropolitan Division standings.
Jeff Skinner has landed on the scoresheet in four of his last five games, notching an assist on rookie Sebastian Aho's goal on Saturday to reclaim the scoring lead on the team (17 points).
TV: 6 p.m. ET, FSN Florida, FSN Carolina
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (11-9-1): Veteran Jaromir Jagr has collected four points over his last four games after recording only six in his first 17 contests.
The 44-year-old future Hall-of-Famer has registered 1,878 career points and is nine shy of tying Mark Messier for second place on the all-time list.
Seth Griffith has gone three games without a point since notching an assist in his debut with Florida on Nov. 15 - three days after being claimed off waivers from Toronto.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (8-8-4): Carolina is making a brief pitstop at PNC Arena before it heads back out on the road for three games, including two versus the Rangers in New York.
The Hurricanes are in the midst of a stretch during which they play nine of 11 contests away from home.
Andrej Nestrasil returned to the lineup Saturday after being a healthy scratch for six straight games and received nearly 11 minutes of ice time in place of Brock McGinn, who is sidelined with an upper-body injury.
OVERTIME
- The Hurricanes are playing the second of their 16 back-to-back sets this season after breaking even on the first earlier this month.
- Florida veteran LW Shawn Thornton, who plans to retire after the season, is one point shy of 100 for his career after recording an assist on Saturday.
- Carolina C Elias Lindholm failed to notch a point Saturday, ending his four-game streak.
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