Florida Panthers: Lines, Updates, Preview for Dec. 16 Game at Edmonton Oilers
The Florida Panthers return to Edmonton for a Stanley Cup Final rematch with the Oilers.
The Florida Panthers find themselves back in Edmonton for the first time since the Oilers dragged them back to Alberta for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.
That game did not end well for the Panthers — Edmonton won it 5-1 to force a Game 7 — but the Panthers had the last laugh back in Sunrise with their 2-1 Game 7 victory. And now they return as champions.
Florida hopes to have its full roster healthy — Aleksander Barkov is a game-time decision with an illness — but regardless of the health of their captain, the Panthers have some issues to solve.
The Panthers have gone 163:59 without scoring a goal, struggling to get bodies in front of the net and generate chances off their heavy forecheck. And a slew of rush chances on the other end have costed them wins in two-straight games in Vancouver and Calgary.
Against an Oilers team they know very well — featuring two of the most dynamic offensive players in the league in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — they know they need to be better.
“It’s our rush defense,” coach Paul Maurice said after Saturday’s loss to the Flames. “We had a five- or six-game stretch before this trip where we scored 36 goals. On this trip we scored one. I’m not concerned about our offense or lack of it. We’re moving the puck well but that’s not an important part of our game.
“Our rush defense is AWOL. If we do that against Edmonton, they are going to put 15 on us. We have to get that sorted first.”
The Oilers feature one of the most potent rush offenses in the league, powered by the elite playmaking of defenseman Evan Bouchard, so they Panthers are going to need to be a lot more careful in the neutral zone.
Over the past couple of games, the Panthers have been caught overcommitting on plays or pinching a little too hard and they have to be a little more mindful of that in a Stanley Cup Final rematch like this.
They cannot let the memories of that series distract them from the main goal: Getting back on track..
“No matter who you play in the playoffs, it brings back memories,” Sam Reinhart said. “You get familiarity with a place. But there’s a job at hand tonight. We want to get back to our game.”
THE NEWS
Sergei Bobrovsky will start in goal for the Panthers against the Oilers tonight.
Maurice said that he was “hopeful” that Barkov would play in Monday night’s game in Edmonton, but he could not guarantee it. He missed Saturday’s game with an illness.
Today’s game will air at 8:30 p.m. EST and will be broadcasted on Scripps Sports and the Panthers Plus app. The game will be broadcasted on NHL Network for out-of-market viewers in the United States.
For more information on how to catch Panthers games this season, visit nhl.com/panthers/info/how-to-watch.
PANTHERS PROJECTED LINEUP
Carter Verhaeghe — Aleksander Barkov (GTD) — Sam Reinhart
Jesper Boqvist — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Evan Rodrigues
A.J. Greer — Tomas Nosek — Mackie Samoskevich
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Dmitry Kulikov
Nate Schmidt — Uvis Balinskis
Spencer Knight
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Adam Boqvist, Jonah Gadjovich
EDMONTON OILERS PROJECTED LINEUP
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Connor McDavid — Zach Hyman
Vasily Podkolzin — Leon Draisaitl — Kasperi Kapanen
Mattias Janmark — Adam Henrique — Jeff Skinner
Corey Perry — Derek Ryan — Connor Brown
Mattias Ekholm — Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse — Troy Stetcher
Brett Kulak — Ty Emberson
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
(Lines via DailyFaceoff.com)
*Opposing team lines subject to change.