Florida Panthers: Lines, Updates, Preview for Jan. 2 Game vs. Carolina Hurricanes
The Florida Panthers will open the calendar year of 2025 with a 2023 Eastern Conference final rematch with the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Florida Panthers are looking to open 2025 with a bang as they host the Carolina Hurricanes of a rematch of the 2023 Eastern Conference final.
Florida usually brings its best in games against past playoff opponents, going 10-1 in games against teams it faced in its back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023 and 2024.
And they will need to bring that effort after closing out 2024 with a pair of shutout losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens before putting in a so-so effort in a win against the New York Rangers.
The Panthers scored six goals each in a two-game set against the Hurricanes their last time out — with both members of their usual goaltending tandem out with injuries — but Pyotr Kochetkov has since returned from injury since that late November slate and is expected to get the start.
The 25-year-old netminder is 14-7-1 with a .899 save percentage, a 2.52 goals-against average and a shutout this season.
Florida will once again be without Nikko Mikkola for this game. Coach Paul Maurice said on Thursday morning that it is unlikely that he is going to play on Friday, but he is getting close. Jonah Gadjovich remains out of the lineup as well, but did skate in a yellow, non-contact jersey at the team’s morning skate.
THE NEWS
Sergei Bobrovsky will start in net for the Florida Panthers.
Niko Mikkola and Jonah Gadjovich will remain out of the lineup with their respective injuries. Adam Boqvist remains in the lineup.
Today’s game will air at 7:00 p.m. EST and will be broadcasted on Scripps Sports. It is available for streaming on Panthers+ for those in Florida’s broadcast territory.
For more information on how to catch Panthers games this season, visit nhl.com/panthers/info/how-to-watch.
PANTHERS PROJECTED LINEUP
Evan Rodrigues — Aleksander Barkov — Sam Reinhart
Eetu Luostarinen — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Carter Verhaeghe — Anton Lundell — Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer — Tomas Nosek — Mackie Samoskevich
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Nate Schmidt — Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis — Adam Boqvist
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
Injured: Niko Mikkola (DTD), Jonah Gadjovich
CAROLINA HURRICANES PROJECTED LINEUP
Jack Roslovic — Sebastian Aho — Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov — Jesperi Kotkaniemi — Martin Necas
William Carrier — Jordan Staal — Jordan Martinook
Eric Robinson —Juha Jaaska — Jackson Blake
Jaccob Slavin — Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov — Jalen Chatfield
Ty Smith — Sean Walker
Pyotr Kochetkov
Dustin Tokarski
(Lines via DailyFaceoff.com)
*Opposing team lines subject to change.