The Florida Panthers hit the ice for their second practice in as many days on Thursday in Fort Lauderdale.

Florida is gearing up for the home stretch of the regular season, with 11 games remaining until the Stanley Cup Playoffs arrive.

Newly acquired Brad Marchand skated on Florida’s second line again, just as he did on Wednesday, as anticipation continues to build toward his eventual Panthers debut.

This time, the line was centered by Sam Bennett, who did not practice the day before.

Afterwards, Maurice said a decision is still coming regarding Marchand’s status for Friday’s game against the Utah Hockey Club.

If Marchand does suit up, Maurice said it would indeed be on a line with Bennett and rookie Mackie Samoskevich.

“We’ll see how everyone comes back to the rink tomorrow, and then (after) the morning skate we’ll make the decision whether Brad is in or not,” said Maurice.

Marchand has been around the team for several weeks. He was on the road with them, skating and attending meetings, getting as acclimated to the Panthers as possible before the Stanley Cup Playoffs arrive.

“He’s part of the group and he’s had an opportunity to get all the social parts out of the way,” Maurice said. “He’s dying to get into the game and play the game with the guys out there.”

Maurice also provided an update on injured defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.

The expectation is that Kulikov will be back on the ice sometime next week, with a hope that he’s able to return to Florida’s lineup before the regular season ends.

“I do think that there is a chance he plays in the last week,” Maurice said.

As for Matthew Tkachuk, Maurice did not provide a timeline in terms of when the injured forward would be back on the ice.

He did say, however, that everything with Tkachuk’s recovery remained on the original track, which initially looked like the target was for him to play sometime during the first round of the playoffs.

“The original plan that they had laid out is exactly where they are right now,” Maurice said. “I don't think, with either injury, we're expecting a miraculous heal but we're also not expecting a really big surprise. Because we still have work to do to make the playoffs, but we have faith that we will, we’re not going to leave them out longer than we should, but we're not bringing them back earlier than we should.”

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