The Florida Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov last season became the first Finnish-born captain to lead a team to a Stanley Cup. So it was only natural that on Thursday he was named the captain for Team Finland in next month’s 4 Nations Face-Off,

SUNRISE, Fla. – Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is skating in his 1,000th National Hockey League regular season game tonight vs. the Los Angeles Kings. The Panthers will honor Kulikov’s milestone in a pregame ceremony prior to Florida’s 6 p.m. (ET) game against the New York Islanders on Sunday, Feb. 2 at Amerant Bank Arena.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves for his 46th career shutout and second of the season as the Florida Panthers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 on Wednesday in Sunrise, Fla.

Now, with the lines taking on more of a traditional look, Maurice decided to keep Samoskevich in the top six, moving him to the left side and slotting Matthew Tkachuk back on Bennett’s right, where he’s spent much of his tree seasons in Florida.

Bennett’s goal 4:55 into regulation came when he took a feed from Tkachuk across the goal crease and sent a wrist shot high as Kings goaltender Dary Kuemper was sprawled down on the ice.

Kings coach Jim Hiller spoke about scratching Brandt Clarke from the lineup ahead of the team's loss to the Panthers.

With the Panthers earning nine seconds of a 5-on-3 power play early in the third period, Aleksander Barkov made the most out of that limited time by winning a faceoff draw in the offensive zone, going to the net and scoring to make it 2-0 at 4:43.

Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 shots for his second shutout of the season, and the Florida Panthers beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-0.

Florida International plays the Jacksonville State Gamecocks after Isnelle Natabou scored 20 points in Florida International's 83-54 loss to the Liberty Lady Flames.

Barkov will lead fellow Finnish Cats Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola at tournament from Feb. 12-20

Finland got everything going as they kicked off the announcements. Representing Finland as the team captain at the 4 Nations Face-Off will be Florida Panthers forward and captain Aleksander "Sasha" Barkov.