Panthers face Toronto with a playoff push looming. Expect lineup shifts and desperate play as they battle to close the gap.
The Florida Panthers will look to hit the ground running when they open the post-Olympic break portion of their schedule on Thursday night.
Florida will play three games in the next four nights, all against teams ahead of them in the standings, starting with a matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Amerant Bank Arena.
Entering play Thursday, Florida sits eight points behind the Boston Bruins for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference with 25 games remaining.
Toronto, who has played one more game than both Florida and Boston, is two points ahead of the Panthers.
The good thing for the Cats is that they’re about as healthy as they’ve been all season, to this point, and there are more players who are on the cusp of returning.
Any or all of Dmitry Kulikov, Tomas Nosek and Jonah Gadjovich could return to Florida’s lineup during their upcoming road trip that begins Sunday on Long Island and runs through Friday in Detroit, and defenseman Seth Jones is also nearing a return, expected to soon shed his gold, non-contact practice jersey.
The Maple Leafs arrive in South Florida fresh off a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.
Similarly to Florida, Toronto is just as desperate for points, so there should be an intense atmosphere when they lock horns in Sunrise.
Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice may be trying something a little different with Florida’s power play.
Based off what was seen during Florida’s morning skate, the Cats could deploy a top unit of Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett and Uvis Balinskis.
Defenseman Aaron Ekblad and Gus Forsling were both seen working on PP2, along with forwards Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe. Evan Rodrigues, who did not participate in the morning skate but is expected to play against Toronto, would likely fill that third forward spot.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Thursday’s tussle with Toronto:
Carter Verhaeghe – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Cole Schwindt – Sandis Vilmanis
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Uvis Balinskis
Tobias Bjornfot – Jeff Petry
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