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SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers will be playing at home Thursday for the first time in 17 days. Their recent four-game, nine-day road trip was largely a success, although it ended with an overtime loss Saturday.
As fate would have it, the Panthers' first game at BB&T Center since Oct. 13 will be against the team that defeated them four nights ago, the Arizona Coyotes.
"That game on Saturday is still not sitting well with us," defenseman Erik Gudbranson said of the Panthers' 2-1 loss at Glendale, Ariz. "Obviously the best possible situation is to face them again and get back at them and give them a good game. For us, it's really good. We're excited to play them. We're anxious to play them and we should have a good one."
Florida went 2-0-2 on its road trip, with two games decided in overtime, another in a shootout and the fourth a 1-0 victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 17 to start the trip.
"It was a good road trip overall and [we get] a little rematch against the Coyotes tonight [and I'm] looking forward to it," center Nick Bjugstad said. "It didn't end the way we wanted it to end the other night, but I thought we played well overall. Everyone played pretty well on that road trip."
The Coyotes defeated the Panthers on defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson's power-play goal. Arizona was 2-for-8 on the power play and Florida failed on their only two power-play opportunities.
The Panthers, who had three days off before the start of their road trip and four afterward, have played seven games, the lowest total in the NHL.
"It's been a good thing for us," Gudbranson said. "We've been able to work on our systems in practice, having good practice time and I think we've rallied around that obviously. Having that practice [time], being able to come together during those times is huge, all be on the same page and be able to put a good product out on the ice. It's been to our advantage for sure."
The Coyotes, who did not hold a morning skate Thursday, will be looking to rebound after a 7-3 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
Arizona has lost four of five, its only victory during that stretch being the game against Florida. The Coyotes have gone 6-0-1 in the teams' past seven meetings and have a four-game winning streak against the Panthers.
"They've come home from a road trip, they've been sitting there waiting," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said of the Panthers. "We know them from playing them a couple of games ago. It was a real competitive game. Our power play came through for us, so we expect the same [Thursday]."
Goalie Mike Smith, who was pulled in the third period Tuesday after giving up six goals on 33 shots, is expected to start for the Coyotes. He is 4-0 with a 1.06 goals-against average in his last four games against Florida.
Here are the projected lineups:
COYOTES
Lauri Korpikoski - Antoine Vermette - Mikkel Boedker
Sam Gagner - Martin Hanzal - Shane Doan
Brandon McMillan - Justin Hodgman - B.J. Crombeen
Rob Klinkhammer - Kyle Chipchura - Martin Erat
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Zbynek Michalek
David Schlemko - Connor Murphy
Scratched: Chris Summers, Joe Vitale
Injured: David Moss (upper body)
PANTHERS
Sean Bergenheim - Aleksander Barkov - Brad Boyes
Jonathan Huberdeau - Nick Bjugstad - Scottie Upshall
Tomas Fleischmann - Brandon Pirri - Jussi Jokinen
Tomas Kopecky - Derek MacKenzie - Shawn Thornton
Willie Mitchell - Dmitry Kulikov
Scratches: Colby Robak, Jimmy Hayes
Injuries: Dave Bolland (lower body)
Status report: Bolland (lower body) will miss his fourth consecutive game. Gallant said Bolland was day-to-day and wouldn't rule him out of the Panthers' next game, Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers. ... Upshall was the only healthy Panthers player not to take part in the optional morning skate, prompting Luongo joking that it was an "Upshall-nal." ... Moss (upper body) will miss his third consecutive game. He's listed as week-to-week. ... Hodgman, who scored against the Panthers on Saturday in his NHL debut, will be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch against Tampa Bay. ... Tippett said he was reuniting Ekman-Larsson and Michalek as a defense pairing in the hopes of "stabilizing" Ekman-Larsson, who has a team-worst minus-11 rating.
Who's hot: After being a healthy scratch in Florida's first four games, Pirri scored in each of the past two games. ... Boyes has four points in his past four games after beginning the season with no points in the first three. ... Ekman-Larsson has a two-game point streak and had a point in six of the Coyotes' eight games.
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