Reunion on tap as Canucks visit Panthers (Dec 10, 2016)
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Here come the ex-Panthers.
Three former Florida Panthers -- right winger Jack Skille, defenseman Erik Gudbranson and goalie Jacob Markstrom -- will arrive at the BB&T Center on Saturday night feeling pretty good as they prepare to face their old team.
All three players contributed for their Vancouver Canucks (12-13-2) in Thursday's 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Gudbranson scored his first goal of the season and added an assist. Skille scored his first two goals of the season and Markstrom entered the game in relief of injured Ryan Miller, making a pair of saves.
Skille, a fourth-line winger who scored his two goals in less than eight minutes of ice time, credited Gudbranson's excellent outlet pass for his first score.
"It was a good heads-up play by Erik," said Skille, a 29-year-old from Wisconsin who is playing for his fifth NHL team. "I just took it to the net. I was fortunate it went in."
The Canucks also feel fortunate to have Gudbranson, a 24-year-old who was Florida's first-round pick (No. 3 overall) in the 2010 draft.
Gudbranson did solid work for the Panthers before they traded him in May for center Jared McCann, 20, in a deal that also involved draft picks going both ways.
For the Canucks, Gudbranson has been reliable, playing every game and ranking second on the team in minutes. Only Ben Hutton, a fellow defenseman, has received more ice time for Vancouver.
That brings us to Markstrom, who likely will start on Saturday because Miller left Thursday's game with 6:02 left due to a lower-body injury.
Coach Willie Desjardins said Miller, who stopped 38 of the 39 shots he faced, was not seriously injured.
"He felt sore," Desjardins said. "He didn't feel quite right, so we took him out as a precaution."
Miller, 36, has made 15 starts this season and is 6-9-0 with a .916 save percentage and a 2.63 goals-against average. Markstrom, 27, has made 12 starts and is 6-4-2 with a .900 save percentage and a 2.75 GAA.
The 31st overall pick by Florida in the 2008 draft, Markstrom had to wait until Jan. 23, 2011, to make his NHL debut.
Markstrom, though, couldn't clutch the starting job in Florida and was traded to Vancouver in the March 4, 2014, blockbuster deal that sent goalie Roberto Luongo back to the Panthers.
A native of Sweden, Markstrom has never had a winning record in any NHL season. His career record is 32-46-11 with a 2.97 GAA.
Markstrom, who is having the best season of his career, could see increased ice time if Miller's injury is more serious than Vancouver has reported.
And that could certainly be the case. Last season, Miller injured his groin in December while making a save against the Panthers and missed three weeks. Initially, that injury also was downplayed -- the Canucks said it was just dehydration.
Luongo did not have a great game in Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He knocked in one puck off his right skate, gave up a rebound on a soft shot that was converted into a goal and allowed himself to get screened by two teammates on a third shot that went past him.
That loss continued a bad trend. The Panthers are just 1-2-3 in the six games since ownership fired coach Gerard Gallant, putting general manager Tom Rowe behind the bench.
In a Sportsnet story, Rowe revealed that Panthers owner Vinny Viola called him during that fateful night when Gallant was fired. The Panthers had built a 2-0 lead at Carolina before the Hurricanes stormed back to win 3-2.
Viola wanted to meet with Rowe and Gallant after the game. Rowe said he wanted to buy more time for Gallant, who had just been given a two-year contract extension in the offseason.
"Let's get through this road trip. Let's maybe evaluate n the middle of December," Rowe said he told Viola. "Then if things aren't going good and you want to make the decision to let Gerard go, then maybe that's the better time to do it.'"
"Obviously," Rowe said, "the decision was made sooner."
And, obviously, the decision to make the coaching switch has not provided the spark the Panthers were seeking.
In other story lines for Saturday's game:
--The Canucks could call up rookie goalie Thatcher Demko to serve as Markstrom's backup if Miller is not capable of playing on Saturday.
A 21-year-old who played at Boston College, Demko is considered one of Vancouver's two top prospects. He is 5-1 with a 1.50 GAA in his past six starts in the American Hockey League.
With Miller's contract expiring after this season, Demko could be up to stay in Vancouver starting next year.
--Canucks center Jayson Megna, who also scored twice on Thursday at Tampa Bay, is not a former Panther but he is a local player. He was born in Fort Lauderdale, just a short Uber ride away from the BB&T Center.
--Rowe said defenseman Aaron Ekblad and center Aleksander Barkov will see their minutes go up in his coaching tenure as opposed to Gallant.
