Florida Panthers: Lines, Updates, Preview for Eastern Conference Final, Game 1 vs. Carolina Hurricanes
The Florida Panthers have a quick turnaround from their Game 7 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs as they prepare to kick off the Eastern Conference final on Tuesday night.
The Florida Panthers did not have much time to lick their wounds after Sunday night’s Game 7 victory in Toronto.
Just over 48 hours later, the Panthers are now in Raleigh set to open up their third-straight Eastern Conference final appearance against the Carolina Hurricanes — the same opponent they defeated in 2023 en route to the first of back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances.
A third is on the line here.
After playing a Maple Leafs team that gets its chances with speed, the Panthers are going to be playing against a team that is very much like themselves — one that forechecks hard, defends hard and will give them a piece of their mind physically.
“They are two years more experienced with their style,” Aleksander Barkov said. “I remember every game against them for the past however many years has been tough, so it’s really hard to play against these guys, and they know it and we know it, so it’s going to be a really fun, hard series.”
The Hurricanes are coming into this series with a different look than they were when the Panthers swept them out of the Eastern Conference final two years ago.
Andrei Svechnikov will play in this series after missing that 2023 series with a torn ACL. He has been a difference-maker for Carolina in this series too, scoring a team-leading eight goals so far in the postseason.
“He is a physical power forward in a sense,” Aaron Ekblad said. “Awesome skill, can put the puck in the net, competitor, and a good compliment to some of the other skill guys on their team. He’s somebody you have to watch out for, for sure.”
Frederik Andersen has also been the best goaltender in the league to start the playoffs, going 7-2 with a .937 save percentage and a 1.36 goals-against average. He was just as hot when he re-joined Carolina from an injury in Game 2 of 2023. He boasted a 5-3 record with a .927 save percentage and a 1.83 goals-against average.
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 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.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Matt Licthenstadter will be recording subscriber-exclusive podcast episodes following the conclusion of each playoff game. For Colby’s postgame stories right after the buzzer, check out palmbeachpost.com/sports
FLORIDA PANTHERS PROJECTED LINEUP
Presented by William Raveis Real Estate
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 — Dmitry Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Jaycob Megna, Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm, Uvis Balinskis, Jesper Boqvist
CAROLINA HURRICANES PROJECTED LINEUP
Andrei Svechnikov — Sebastian Aho — Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall — Jack Roslovic — Logan Stankoven
Jordan Martinook — Jordan Staal — William Carrier
Eric Robinson — Jesperi Kotkaniemi — Jackson Blake
Jaccob Slavin — Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov — Sean Walker
Shayne Gostisbehere — Scott Morrow
Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov
Injured: Jesper Fast (IR), Mark Jankowski (DTD), Jalen Chatfield (DTD)
Hurricanes Lines Courtesy of DailyFaceOff.com
*Opposing team lines subject to change.