Florida Panthers: Lines, Updates, Preview for Feb. 25 Game vs. Nashville Predators
The Florida Panthers head up to Nashville without Matthew Tkachuk and Eetu Luostarinen in the lineup.
The Florida Panthers will be without two key pieces as they look to get back in the win column for the first time since the 4 Nations Break.
Matthew Tkachuk remains out of the lineup with an injury while Eetu Luostarinen stayed back in South Florida as he and his wife await the birth of a new baby.
There is still no timeline for Tkachuk’s return, per coach Paul Maurice via Rob Darragh of FloridaPanthers.com.
The Florida star will continue to be evaluated upon the team’s return from Nashville and more information will be available when it is confirmed.
Justin Sourdif was called up from AHL Charlotte to take Luostarinen’s spot in the lineup while no other moves have been made with Tkachuk’s timeline still up in the air.
Sourdif, 22, has 11 goals and 22 points in 29 games for AHL Charlotte this season. He was expected to challenge for an NHL roster in training camp spot before he sustained an injury before it even began.
The 2020 third-round pick is still looking for his first NHL point after playing in three games across a couple of stints with the Panthers last year.
Nashville, meanwhile, is coming into Tuesday night’s game on the heels of a 5-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils.
The Predators have struggled this season since making big splashes in free agency. They sit 16 points out of the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference despite adding Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos to a core of players that made the postseason last year.
Nashville has scored the third-fewest goals-for per game and has allowed the seventh-most goals-against per game. Tie that in with Juuse Saros regressing from a bonafide Vezina Trophy candidate to a pedestrian .901 save percentage, the Predators have had their work cut out for them this year.
THE NEWS
Spencer Knight will start in net for the Florida Panthers.
Tonight’s game will be broadcasted on Scripps Sports and Panthers Plus at 8:00 p.m. (EST).
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
Justin Sourdif — Anton Lundell — Jesper Boqvist
Jonah Gadjovich — Tomas Nosek — A.J. Greer
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Dmitry Kulikov
Nate Schmidt — Uvis Balinskis
Spencer Knight
Sergei Bobrovsky
Injured: Matthew Tkachuk (timeline TBD)
Scratched: Eetu Luostarinen
NASHVILLE PREDATORS PROJECTED LINEUP
Filip Forsberg — Ryan O’Reilly — Jonathan Marchessault
Steven Stamkos — Fedor Svechkov — Gustav Nyquist
Mark Jankowski — Tommy Novak — Luke Evangelista
Cole Smith — Michael McCarron — Colton Sissons
Roman Josi — Justin Barron
Brady Skjei — Nick Blankenburg
Andreas Englund — Luke Schenn
Juuse Saros
Justus Annunen
(Lines via DailyFaceoff.com)
*Opposing team lines subject to change.