Panthers rolling, set to wrap up homestand against struggling Canadiens

The Florida Panthers will look to complete a perfect three-game homestand when they host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night at Amerant Bank Arena.

Florida has been rolling over the past couple months, going 21-4-2 since Dec. 23.

The run has propelled the Panthers to the top of the league standings, where they're currently battling the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks for the NHL's best record.

It's been a different story this season for the Montreal Canadiens.

The Habs have struggled find consistency in what was expected to be a difficult season for the rebuilding franchise.

They enter Thursday's matchup with Florida with just two wins over their past nine games, though one of those wins came on Tuesday when they defeated the Arizona Coyotes at Bell Centre.

Interestingly, Montreal has played slightly better on the road this season (11-12-5) than at home (12-16-3).

This will be the third of four meetings between the Cats and Habs this season.

So far, the Panthers have won both meetings while outscoring Montreal 9-2.

Here are the projected lines and pairings for Florida ahead of Thursday's matchup with Montreal:

Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Nick Cousins – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues

Jonah Gadjovich – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov

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