Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen speaks after Florida's 4-3 win in Columbus on Oct. 15. The Florida Panthers are back in town after a rough four-game road trip. Florida earned wins in two of their four outings over the past week, but more significantly, they are returning without a pair of key forwards in their lineup. Panthers captain Sasha Barkov is out for another couple weeks after sustaining a lower-body injury during Florida's loss in Ottawa last Thursday, and forward Matthew Tkachuk is expected to miss at least the next two games while battling an illness that has kept him out of the Cats past three outings. That’s the bad news. The good news is that Florida has reeled off back-to-back victories while playing without Barkov and Tkachuk and now will be back on home ice in front of their amazing fans. They’ll be home for the next three games, starting Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks followed by the Vegas Golden Knights coming to town on Saturday and the Minnesota Wild visiting Sunrise on Tuesday. Vancouver arrived in South Florida still searching for their first victory of the young season. The Canucks are currently 0-1-2, dropping back-to-back overtime games to Calgary and Philly on home ice before falling in Tampa on Tuesday. Thursday's game between the Cats and Nucks will be the first of two meetings in 2024-25. Last season, Vancouver claimed victory in both games against Florida, defeating the Panthers 5-3 in Sunrise and 4-0 at Rogers Arena. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Thursday's matchup with Vancouver: Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Evan Rodrigues Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart A.J. Greer – Jesper Boqvist – Mackie Samoskevich Jonah Gadjovich – Patrick Giles – Uvis Balinskis Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov Nate Schmidt – Adam Boqvist LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Matthew Tkachuk inspired Panthers tribute of Skittles, purple Gatorade to Johnny Gaudreau [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/matthew-tkachuk-inspired-panthers-tribute-of-skittles-purple-gatorade-to-johnny-gaudreau] Three takeaways: Spencer Knight shines during crunch time, Lundell line with Reinhart looks darn good [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/three-takeaways-spencer-knight-shines-during-crunch-time-lundell-line-with-reinhart-looks-darn-good] Panthers earn tough victory in Columbus on night dedicated to Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-earn-tough-victory-in-columbus-on-night-dedicated-to-johnny-and-matthew-gaudreau] Three takeaways: Gutsy win in Boston led by familiar 'security blanket' forward line [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/three-takeaways-gutsy-win-in-boston-led-by-familiar-security-blanket-forward-line] Panthers wrap up road trip in Columbus on night honoring Johnny, Matthew Gaudreau [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-wrap-up-road-trip-in-columbus-on-night-honoring-johnny-matthew-gaudreau] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
