Florida looking to tighten the screws while staying healthy ahead of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

The final homestand of the regular season begins on Tuesday night for the Florida Panthers.

Playoff-bound for the fifth consecutive season, the Panthers are aiming to sharpen their skills and be as prepared as possible for the postseason battles to come.

Florida will kick off its final four games at home with a matchup against an Ottawa Senators team that has had some very contentious games with the Panthers over the past couple seasons.

This will be the fourth and final meeting between the Cats and Sens, with Florida looking to complete the four-game sweep.

The Panthers have outscored Ottawa 14-2 so far during the three meetings this season, thanks in large part to a pair of shutouts by Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida will be without top pairing defenseman Aaron Ekblad and high-end goal scorer Carter Verhaeghe for the rest of the regular season after both suffered injuries during the Panthers road trip last week.

On Monday, Florida Head Coach Paul Maurice said he expects Ekblad and Verhaeghe to be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In the interim, Ekblad’s spot next to Gus Forsling will be occupied by Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

OEL has stepped up into the top pairing role multiple times this season and done well when called upon, whether it be at even strength or on special teams.

As for the forward lines, it sounds like the top nine we see on Tuesday night could be what Florida is leaning toward rolling with at the start of the playoffs, aside from Verhaeghe not being there.

That means Vladimir Tarasenko skating on the right side of the top line with Sasha Barkov and Sam Reinhart, and Evan Rodrigues taking the right wing spot on the third line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen.

Verhaeghe’s spot on the left side of the second line with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk is being kept warm by Nick Cousins, for now.

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings ahead of Tuesday’s battle with the Senators:

Vladimir Tarasenko – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Nick Cousins – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues

Steven Lorentz – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg

Gus Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour

Josh Mahura – Dmitry Kulikov 

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