Thursday, April 11, 2024 – 7:00 PM EDT
Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, Florida
TV: Bally Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Site: Litter Box Cats
Columbus Blue Jackets (26-41-12, 64 points, 8th Metro, 16th East)
at
Florida Panthers (49-24-6, 104 points, 2nd Atlantic, 4th East)
Player to Watch
Sam Reinhart
Reinhart has blossomed since being traded to Florida in 2021, eclipsing the 30 goal mark in his first two seasons. This year, with unrestricted free agency looming this summer, the 28-year-old has scored 53 goals and counting. This is one of the great contract years in NHL history.
Jackets Notes
Trey Fix-Wolansky is back with the team on emergency recall. The reason:
When it rains, it pours.
The Other Bench
The Panthers have clinched a playoff berth, but sit 3 points behind Boston for first place in the Atlantic, and 3 points ahead of Toronto for second place. They have been in a slump for the last month, with a 4-7-2 record.
Season Series
11/06/2023 CBJ 4 @ FLA 5 (OT)
12/10/2023 FLA 5 @ CBJ 2
04/11/2024 CBJ @ FLA
Stats
| Florida | Columbus | |
| 3.20 (14) | GPG | 2.84 (26) |
| 2.46 (1) | GAPG | 3.61 (31) |
| 24.5 (7) | PP% | 15.4 (30) |
| 82.7 (6) | PK% | 76.6 (25) |
| 55.1 (2) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 48.1 (22) |
| 53.4 (5) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 47.7 (24) |
| 7.6 (28) | 5v5 Shooting % | 8.9 (10) |
| 92.9 (3) | 5v5 Save % | 91.2 (18) |
| Sam Reinhart, 53 | G Leader | Kirill Marchenko, 23 |
| Matthew Tkachuk, 59 | A Leader | Johnny Gaudreau, 48 |
| Sam Reinhart, 90 | P Leader | Johnny Gaudreau, 59 |
| Jonah Gadjovich, 104 | PIM Leader | Erik Gudbranson, 72 |
| 23-13-2 | Home/Road | 10-22-7 |
| 4-4-2 | Last 10 | 3-7-0 |
Projected Lines
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Johnny Gaudreau | Dmitri Voronkov | Alex Nylander |
| Alexandre Texier | Cole Sillinger | Kirill Marchenko |
| Trey Fix-Wolansky | Justin Danforth | Mikael Pyyhtia |
| Mathieu Olivier | Brendan Gaunce | James Malatesta |
| Zach Werenski | Damon Severson |
| Ivan Provorov | Erik Gudbranson |
| Nick Blankenberg | David Jiricek |
| Jet Greaves |
| Malcolm Subban |
Florida Panthers
| Vladimir Tarasenko | Aleksander Barkov | Sam Reinhart |
| Nick Cousins | Sam Bennett | Matthew Tkachuk |
| Eetu Luostarinen | Anton Lundell | Evan Rodrigues |
| Jonah Gadjovich | Kevin Stenlund | Ryan Lomberg |
| Gustav Forsling | Brandon Montour |
| Niko Mikkola | Dmitry Kulikov |
| Josh Mahura | Uvis Balinskis |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Anthony Stolarz |