Blue Jackets-Panthers Preview
GAME: Columbus Blue Jackets (10-21-4-3) at Florida Panthers (12-17-9-2).
TIME: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. EST.
Gerard Gallant will try to take another step toward getting a full-time gig.
Fresh off a win in his debut as interim coach, Gallant will try to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a second straight victory when they travel to Florida to play the Panthers.
Marc Denis made 37 saves to help Columbus beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 on Friday in Gallant's first game since replacing Doug MacLean, who stepped down on Thursday.
"From 11 o'clock yesterday morning until before the puck dropped, I was nervous," Gallant said. "I was butterflied and I was a little scared. It was really good to get the puck dropped and get the game going because that's what I enjoy most about hockey is the game itself and it went real well."
Gallant managed to get what took MacLean -- also the team's president and general manager -- 15 games to accomplish -- a win on the road. The Blue Jackets are 2-11-1-2 away from Nationwide Arena.
"With everything that's happened around our team the last couple of days, this was a great way to start something new," Denis said. "Obviously it's not the whole battle -- there's a long way to go -- but you've got to start somewhere.
"We said we'd make yesterday Day 1 with a change behind our bench and hopefully we'll have a different philosophy and a different feeling about this group."
Rostislav Klesla scored his first goal in 35 games for Columbus, and Manny Malhotra added an empty-net goal with 1:10 left for the Blue Jackets.
The Panthers had their six-game home unbeaten streak (3-0-3) snapped with a 2-1 loss to visiting Philadelphia on Friday. Rookie Nathan Horton scored for the Panthers, who also saw their three-game overall unbeaten streak (1-0-2) end.
Roberto Luongo made 21 saves in the loss for Florida, which starts a four-game road trip after this game.,
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