Without their captain, Panthers in Nashville aiming to end losing streak
Sasha Barkov will miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury, but Florida called up rookie Mackie Samoskevich to help fill in
Perhaps a quick road trip to brisk Tennessee is just what the doctor ordered for the Florida Panthers.
Riding a four game losing streak (0-2-2), the Panthers will look to get off the schneid when they visit the Music City for a Monday matchup with the Nashville Predators.
Nashville is currently in the middle of a tough and confounding travel schedule that the Panthers should be able to sympathize with.
The Preds just returned from three games out west to play one home game, then they hear right back on the road for another three games nowhere close to Tennessee.
They enter Monday’s matchup with Florida holding on to the final wild card spot in the Western Conference while playing .500 hockey over the past month (7-7-1).
Florida, meanwhile, will not have captain Sasha Barkov in the lineup for a third straight game.
Barkov has been dealing with a lower-body injury and stayed behind in South Florida to skate on his own. There is hope that he’ll be ready to return when the Panthers host Arizona on Wednesday.
In the meantime, Florida recalled Mackie Samoskevich from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, and he’s expected to be in the lineup Monday night against Nashville.
Look for the Panthers to turn back to Sergei Bobrovsky after the veteran goaltender was pulled midway through his most recent start after surrendering four goals on 15 shots in a 6-4 loss to the Minnesota Wild.
Over his past three outings, Bobrovsky has given up 10 goals on just 65 shots.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings ahead of Monday’s matchup in Nashville:
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Evan Rodrigues – Kevin Stenlund – Mackie Samoskevich
Jonah Gadjovich – Steven Lorentz – Ryan Lomberg
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
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