The Panthers are seeking an elusive road win as their injured stars near a return.
The Florida Panthers are still looking for their first win since leaving home, making a stop in Ottawa for a divisional matchup with the struggling Senators.
After appearing to have turned a corner, winning seven of eight in mid-December, the Cats have waffled a bit since, winning only three of the following nine.
There is hope on the horizon, though, as Florida could welcome back a pair of elite players who are out with injury in the coming days.
Veteran forward Brad Marchand missed Thursday’s loss in Montreal due to an undisclosed injury, but his day-to-day status combined with the comments of Head Coach Paul Maurice, who indicated the injury was nothing serious, would indicate he could be available in Ottawa.
All-Star forward Matthew Tkachuk has been practicing with the team in a full-contact jersey for the past several days and could potentially crack the lineup at any time.
It sure would be fun to see Tkachuk make his season debut in Ottawa, the team captained by his brother, Brady Tkachuk.
Brady’s Senators have seen their season follow a similar panther to the Panthers recently.
After a solid stretch in mid-December in which the Sens won five of six, they failed to build on it and have dropped six of their eight games since.
Entering play Saturday, Ottawa is next-to-last in the Eastern Conference, with 45 points through 43 games played.
They’re just two points behind the Panthers, though, as the Wild Card chase remains tightly contested, with five points separating the Senators from the second Wild Card spot, and six teams sitting between them.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Thursday’s matchup with Montreal:
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
Mackie Samoskevich – Evan Rodrigues – A.J. Greer
Jesper Boqvist – Luke Kunin – Jack Studnicka
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Uvis Balinskis
Donovan Sebrango – Jeff Petry
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Photo caption: Oct 11, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) clears the crease as Ottawa Senators left wing Fabian Zetterlund (20) collides with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Jim Rassol-Imagn Images)