The Florida Panthers continue their march toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday night in Sunrise.
Florida has already clinched their spot in the postseason dance and now the team is hoping to be as healthy as possible once they arrive.
That has left the Cats with some different-looking lineups lately, and that could again be the case when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Amerant Bank Arena.
Florida’s previous game, a 2-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, saw the Panthers suit up without Sasha Barkov, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Gus Forsling and Nico Sturm, joining injured Cats Dmitry Kulikov and Matthew Tkachuk watching in the press box.
Despite the loss, the Panthers played pretty well in Detroit, particularly in terms of defensive communication and support.
That is particularly impressive considering the influx of players who were either making their Panthers debut or had less than a handful of games played with the team this season.
Rasmus Asplund, Jaycob Megna, Jesse Puljujarvi and Matt Kiersted have played a combined eight games for Florida this season, but each were called on to play crucial minutes and did well with the opportunity.
Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said the team won’t hesitate to hold players out of the lineup if they think it will help them get in better shape and health for the Stanley Cup Playofs, which are only a couple short weeks away.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Tuesday’s tilt with Toronto:
Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Jesper Boqvist – Evan Rodrigues – Mackie Samoskevich
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Nico Sturm – Jesse Puljujarvi
Gus Forsling – Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola – Nate Schmidt
Jaycob Megna – Uvis Balinskis
Scratches: Rasmus Asplund, Tomas Nosek, Dmitry Kulikov, Sam Bennett, Jonah Gadjovich
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