Florida and Boston each have 97 points, but the Cats have the tiebreaker and a game in hand
Florida and Boston each have 97 points, but the Cats have the tiebreaker and a game in hand
The Florida Panthers will be back on home ice Tuesday following a successful weekend back-to-back in the northeast.
Florida picked up three of a possible four points against the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers, which was big coming off a couple weeks in which the Panthers did not look like their usual, aggressive selves.
Now, with the Cats appearing to round back into form, they’ll face a massive challenge with the Boston Bruins coming to town.
Florida and Boston have been locked in a tight and exciting battle for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Entering play Tuesday, the Panthers and Bruins are tied with 97 points apiece. Florida holds the tiebreaker, with six more regulation wins than Boston, and the Cats also have a game in hand.
The big question for Florida heading into the game is how close to healthy their roster will be when they hit the ice at Amerant Bank Arena.
Panthers top line center Sasha Barkov has missed Florida’s past three games while recovering from a nagging injury and top pairing defenseman Gus Forsling missed both games over the weekend with an illness.
Then there’s Forsling’s usual partner, Aaron Ekblad. He’s been out for over two weeks with a lower-body injury.
Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice initially said Ekblad would miss at least two weeks, after which he’d be considered day-to-day.
Two weeks was Saturday.
Ekblad began skating last week but has yet to been seen with his teammates in a formal practice, and Maurice would likely want the rearguard to get in at least one good skate before jumping back into a game situation.
Florida is holding an optional morning skate Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, so there may or may not be answers about how the roster will shake out afterwards.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings ahead of Tuesday’s tilt with the Bruins:
Evan Rodrigues – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Vladimir Tarasenko
Nick Cousins – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg
Gus Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura – Dmitry Kulikov
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