Florida Panthers: Lines, Updates, Preview for Stanley Cup Final, Game 3 vs. Edmonton Oilers
It's a best three out five series as it shifts to Sunrise
After two incredible games in Edmonton, the Panthers come home to Amerant Bank Arena with home ice advantage in the series and some wind in their sails. They’re certainly happy to be back home, even if their play at home this postseason hasn’t exactly blown anyone away.
“It’s never bad being in your own bed, have a nice home cooked meal,’’ Sam Reinhart said. “I mean, once the puck drops, you might use the crowd a little bit, you might have that little extra energy.
“But at this time, it’s the two best teams that are left standing. Once that puck drops it’s going to be a real battle regardless.”
Florida is only 4-3 at home and has only one power play goal at Amerant Bank Arena compared to 13 on the road. They’ve played five more road games than home games in the postseason thanks to not having home ice advantage and finishing two series in five games, but if they’re going to take control of this series, they need to make home ice truly count tonight.
A.J Greer also returns to the lineup for the first time since Game 5 of the East Final, putting back together a fourth line that has been extremely effective this postseason.
“I’m just stepping right back into things. I’m not trying to change anything, and I’m not trying to change my identity. I’m just trying to come back to the way that I usually play with the two guys on that line and just kind of do what we do best and then set up the next line for success”, he said.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins remains a game time decision for the Oilers with an undisclosed injury. If he can’t go, Jeff Skinner would replace him.
THE NEWS
Sergei Bobrovsky will start in net for the Panthers tonight.
Tonight’s game will start at 8:00 p.m. EST and will be broadcasted nationally on TNT and TruTV and can be streamed on Max.
Catch the Florida Panthers pre-game show on Scripps Sports with Jessica Blaylock, Ed Jovanovski, Randy Moller and Katie Engleson 30 minutes before puck drop.
For more information on how to find Scripps Sports, visit nhl.com/panthers/info/how-to-watch.
FLORIDA PANTHERS PROJECTED LINEUP
Evan Rodrigues — Aleksander Barkov —Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Brad Marchand
A.J Greer — Tomas Nosek — Jonah Gadjovich
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt — Dimitry Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Jaycob Megna, Mackie Samoskevich, Uvis Balinskis, Jesper Boqvist, Nico Sturm
EDMONTON OILERS PROJECTED LINEUP
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Connor McDavid — Corey Perry
Evander Kane — Leon Draisaitl — Kasperi Kapanen
Trent Frederic — Adam Henrique — Connor Brown
Vasily Podkolzin — Mattias Janmark — Viktor Arvidsson
Darnell Nurse — Evan Bouchard
Mattias Ekholm — John Klingberg
Brett Kulak — Jake Walman
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Jeff Skinner
Injured: Zach Hyman (Out, UBI), Alec Regula (IR), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (GTD)
Oilers Lines Courtesy of DailyFaceOff.com
*Opposing team lines subject to change.