Panthers Host League-Leading Blue Jackets
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SUNRISE (SportsDirect Inc.) -- The league-leading Columbus Blue Jackets hope to have Sergei Bobrovsky back in net Saturday as they attempt to complete a sweep in the Sunshine State when they visit the Florida Panthers.
Columbus' All-Star goaltender was relegated to bench duty Friday because of an illness, but the team still managed to avoid a third straight road loss by topping Tampa Bay 3-1.
Joonas Korpisalo stopped 31 shots in his season debut as the Blue Jackets maintained their one-point lead over Washington in the Metropolitan Division.
Columbus looks to extend that advantage against Florida, which has struggled mightily at home.
The Panthers fell to 1-4-3 in their last eight contests at BB&T Center after dropping a 5-2 decision to the New York Islanders on Friday.
All-Star Vincent Trocheck recorded a goal and an assist in the setback to forge a tie with Aleksander Barkov for the team scoring lead at 27 points.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), FSN Florida
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (29-8-4): Josh Anderson scored his career-high 10th goal Friday, giving Columbus six players with double-digit totals. The 22-year-old right wing tallied in two straight contests after enduring a 13-game drought. Markus Hannikainen, who appeared in five games with the Blue Jackets earlier this season, was a healthy scratch Friday after being recalled from Cleveland of the American Hockey League a day earlier.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (19-17-8): Florida welcomed Seth Griffith back to the lineup Friday after the center missed the previous four games with a concussion. The 24-year-old center, who has gone 24 games without a goal this season, went 0-for-2 on faceoffs and received a slashing penalty in 15 minutes, 38 seconds of ice time in his return. Defenseman Keith Yandle recorded a pair of assists against the Islanders while extending his consecutive games streak to 595 - a run that began March 26, 2009.
OVERTIME
1. Blue Jackets LW Brandon Saad scored one goal in his last seven games and is two away from 100 for his career.
2. Florida LW Shawn Thornton's next point will be the 100th of his career while RW Reilly Smith needs two assists to reach the century mark in that category.
3. Columbus RW Cam Atkinson, who leads the team with 40 points, needs one assist to reach 100 in the NHL and D David Savard is two points shy of triple digits in his career.
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