Florida Panthers: Lines, Updates, Preview for Round 2, Game 6 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
The Florida Panthers will be rolling with the same line-up they won Game 5 with as they look to close out the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 6.
FORT LAUDERDALE — While some around the hockey world are already writing the eulogy of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Florida Panthers are looking to block out the noise as they try to close out the series at home in Friday night’s Game 6.
“We have to stay in the moment,” Brad Marchand said. “We just have to embrace the opportunity.”
After falling into a 2-0 hole — and trailing 3-1 early in the second period of Game 3 — the Panthers have flipped the series on its head after securing three-straight victories and now have a chance to make the Eastern Conference final for the third year in a row.
They have done so while holding the Maple Leafs to one goal in the past two games, with their Core 4 of stars being held off the scoresheet completely. While the narrative heading into this game has been dominated by the lackluster performance of those big names, Florida knows that it needs to keep focusing on staying within its structure in order to win.
“You build all year for these moments and you create that structure and that discipline within your game, and that’s what this team’s done,” Marchand said. “You just have to rely on each other and trust each other to do their job and hopefully get the bounces that you need.”
As dejected as the Maple Leafs looked at points of the third period of Game 5, the Panthers know they cannot keep their foot off the gas pedal. They have to keep up the same heavy-forechecking, tight gap game that helped them climb out of their two-game deficit in the first place.
“Any time you are playing a team with its back against the wall, you never know what you are gonna get,” Nate Schmidt said. “I find that this is the time of year where you really find out what you’re made of and I find that this game tonight is going to be the toughest.
“There are not going to be any shades of last game. I find that there is going to be a lot more intensity to the game. We’re ready for that.”
THE NEWS
Sergei Bobrovsky will start in net for the Panthers tonight.
Evan Rodrigues remains out of the Florida Panthers lineup after he took a high hit from Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Game 4. He did skate with the team in its optional morning skate on Friday.
“He’s better,” Maurice said of Rodrigues. “He’s at a point that he can get a skate in. He got a pretty good push here today and then we’ll monitor him tomorrow and see where he’s at.”
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
Jesper Boqvist — 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
Injured: Evan Rodrigues
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS PROJECTED LINEUP
Matthew Knies — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
Pontus Holmberg — John Tavares — William Nylander
Bobby McMann — Max Domi — Max Pacioretty
Steven Lorentz — Scott Laughton — Calle Jarnkrok
Jake McCabe — Chris Tanev
Morgan Reilly — Brandon Carlo
Simon Benoit — Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Joseph Woll
Matt Murray
Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (IR), David Kampf (DTD), Anthony Stolarz
Scratched: Dennis Hildeby, Dakota Mermis, Phil Myers, Nick Robertson
Maple Leafs Lines Courtesy of DailyFaceOff.com
*Opposing team lines subject to change.