Florida Panthers: Lines, Updates, Preview for Feb. 27 Game vs. Edmonton Oilers
The Florida Panthers will take on the Edmonton Oilers in a Stanley Cup Final rematch without Matthew Tkachuk in the lineup.
FORT LAUDERDALE — When the Florida Panthers welcome the Edmonton Oilers back to Amerant Bank Arena for the first time since Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, they are expecting a lot of pushback out of them.
The Oilers enter Thursday night’s game in Sunrise on a four-game losing skid where they have been outscored 22-11 and that sour taste in their mouth will only get worse as they walk into the building they sustained their crushing Game 7 loss in for the first time.
Florida has to be ready for that, especially with star forward Matthew Tkachuk remaining out of the lineup with an injury.
“I think it’s the catalyst they need,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “They have been off their game for a while. Over 82 games, everybody goes through that and sometimes you are looking for a jumpstart to get you going. But with that Game 7 memory, we will expect them to be at their game tonight.
“We won’t do some reminiscing before the game, but if you watch the prep programming coming into the game and get some flashbacks and it brings a smile to your face.”
The last time these two teams faced off, the Panthers managed their emotions quite well despite missing captain Aleksander Barkov and defeated the Oilers 6-5 in their barn in December.
They will try to avoid looking back as much as they can — staying focused on the playoff race at hand with 23 games to go — but it’s inevitably a game that will have some extra juice to it.
“It brings back some memories and anytime you have a rematch against these guys, you want to come away with a win,” Evan Rodrigues said. “I think you’ll get a playoff type game tonight.”
THE NEWS
Sergei Bobrovsky will start in net for the Florida Panthers.
Justin Sourdif was returned to AHL Charlotte on Monday afternoon following the return of Eetu Luostarinen from paternity leave.
Tonight’s game will start at 7:00 p.m. EST and will be broadcasted on Scripps Sports and Panthers Plus. Out-of-market viewers in the United States can stream the game on ESPN+.
For more information on how to catch Panthers games this season, visit nhl.com/panthers/info/how-to-watch.
FLORIDA PANTHERS PROJECTED LINEUP
Carter Verhaeghe — Aleksander Barkov — Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich — Sam Bennett — Evan Rodrigues
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer — Tomas Nosek — Jonah Gadjovich
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Dmitry Kulikov
Nate Schmidt — Uvis Balinskis
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
Injured: Matthew Tkachuk (timeline TBD)
EDMONTON OILERS PROJECTED LINEUP
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Connor McDavid — Zach Hyman
Jeff Skinner — Leon Draisaitl — Viktor Arvidsson
Mattias Janmark — Adam Henrique — Connor Brown
Vasily Podkozlin — Kasperi Kapanen — Corey Perry
Mattias Ekholm — Evan Bouchard
Troy Stetcher — Ty Emberson
Brett Kulak — John Klingberg
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
(Lines via Mark Spector, Sportsnet)
*Opposing team lines subject to change.