Preview: Panthers welcome Lightning to town for another Sunshine State showdown

TV: FOX Sports Florida in South Florida; FOX Sports Sun in North/Central Florida

TIME: Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m.

Tampa Bay Lightning (14-11-3, sixth in the Atlantic Division) vs. Florida Panthers (15-9-5, second in the Atlantic Division)

BOTTOM LINE

Jonathan Huberdeau and Florida take on Tampa Bay. Huberdeau currently ranks 10th in the NHL with 36 points, scoring 11 goals and totaling 25 assists.

The Panthers are 9-6-3 against Eastern Conference opponents. Florida is third in the league averaging 6.1 assists per game, led by Aleksander Barkov Jr. with 0.9.

The Lightning are 10-6-2 in conference matchups. Tampa Bay averages 10.2 points per game to lead the NHL, recording 3.6 goals and 6.5 assists per game.

Florida knocked off Tampa Bay 4-3 in the last meeting between these teams on Oct. 5. Mike Hoffman scored three goals for the Panthers in the victory.

TOP PERFORMERS

Brett Connolly leads the Panthers with 14 goals and has totaled 21 points. Huberdeau has totaled 10 assists over the last 10 games for Florida.

Nikita Kucherov has collected 31 total points while scoring 10 goals and totaling 21 assists for the Lightning. Brayden Point has six goals and three assists over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.

LAST 10 GAMES

Lightning: 5-4-1, averaging 3.8 goals, 6.9 assists, 3.9 penalties and 9.1 penalty minutes while giving up three goals per game with a .903 save percentage.

Panthers: 6-4-0, averaging 3.5 goals, 5.8 assists, 2.7 penalties and six penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game with a .913 save percentage.

Panthers Injuries: Jayce Hawryluk: out (upper body).

Lightning Injuries: Tyler Johnson: out (undisclosed).