Standings bottom-dwellers Panthers, Predators hope to find momentum

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The Florida Panthers - the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champions - are in last place among 16 teams in the Eastern Conference with 25 points.

Florida, which has lost three straight games, will try to get back on the winning track Thursday night against the Nashville Predators in Sunrise, Fla.

This could be the perfect opponent for Florida because Nashville is tied for the fewest points in the Western Conference with 22.

The Predators are just 3-5-2 on the road as compared to Florida's 8-6-1 home record. Then again, Nashville is coming off a 5-1 home win over Calgary on Tuesday.

Nashville is led by coach Andrew Brunette, who went 51-18-6 as Florida's interim coach in 2021-2022. He gave way to Paul Maurice, who has led the Panthers to the mountaintop in each of the past two years.

Other familiar faces on the Predators - especially for Panthers fans - are Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos, both of whom scored in Tuesday's win.

Marchessault was brilliant in his one season in Florida, providing 30 goals and 21 assists in 2016-2017. He's had just one better season in terms of goal scoring - 42 tallies with Vegas in 2023-2024.

This season, Marchessault - who turns 35 later this month -- has five goals and three assists in 21 games. He enters on a two-game point streak after snapping a nine-game point drought.

Stamkos, 35, played most of his career for Florida's biggest rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning. He won two Stanley Cup titles with Tampa Bay before signing a four-year contract with Nashville ahead of last season.

On Tuesday, Stamkos became just the sixth active player to reach 1,200 points.

"It's special," Stamkos said of the milestone. " ... I think it's more of a thing when your career is over, and you can look back. But you certainly have a moment of appreciation for everyone who has helped you achieve (this milestone)."

Over his last four games, Stamkos has three goals and five points.

Meanwhile, the Panthers have lost four straight home games.

"We have to get better, right?" Maurice said. "We have to get some higher-end performances out of some guys."

The Panthers have played the whole season so far without two of their biggest stars in center Aleksander Barkov (knee injury) and winger Matthew Tkachuk (groin). Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is expected to miss five months due to an upper-body injury, and role players such as Eetu Luostarinen, Jonah Gadjovich, Tomas Nosek and Cole Schwindt are also on the injured list.

Brad Marchand leads Florida in goals (15) and points (27), and Sam Reinhart ranks second in both categories (14 and 24).

But Maurice is likely looking for more from players such as Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett and defenseman Gustav Forsling.

Verhaeghe scored 42 goals in 2022-2023 but has seen his production slip each season since (34 goals, 20 goals and four goals so far this campaign). He missed Tuesday's game as he and his wife are awaiting the birth of their child.

Bennett scored 25 goals last season but has just six this year. Forsling scored 11 goals last season but has just one this year.

In addition, star goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is off to a slow start (10-8-0, 2.89 goals-against average, .883 save percentage).

"There's some tension on the stick," Maurice said. "That's normal and you see that when you've lost a few in a row."

--Field Level Media