Florida Panthers: Lines, Updates, Preview for Jan. 6 Game at Colorado Avalanche
The Florida Panthers could be without two important defensemen against the offensive juggernaut Colorado Avalanche.
The Florida Panthers could be without both Aaron Ekblad and Niko Mikkola when they take on the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.
Per head coach Paul Maurice, Mikkola is not expected to play while Ekblad’s status will be decided on closer to game-time after he skated on his own following the team’s morning skate in Denver.
He told reporters that both of them are not expected to be out long-term.
Mikkola has been out of the lineup for the past four games while Ekblad picked up a recent ailment that kept him out of most of the final 10:12 of the team’s 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.
The team recalled defenseman Tobias Bjornfot from AHL Charlotte, who is expected to play if both players do not suit up.
“There won’t be the nerves,” Maurice told reporters when asked about the 23-year-old defenseman. “He’s played a year in the NHL. This isn’t his first tour. He’s going in against a pretty good team for your call-up, but those are the games where you have a chance to impress the most.”
The 2019 first-round pick appeared in one regular season game for the Panthers after he was claimed at the 2024 NHL trade deadline. If he plays today, it will be his first NHL game of the season after he put up two goals and 11 points in 27 games for the Charlotte Checkers this year.
The Avalanche are not the team the Panthers want to be having holes on their blueline against.
Colorado scored seven goals on Florida the last time out, blitzing them with a rush-based attack in a four-goal second period back in November, and they have been hot lately.
As a team, the Avalanche rank first in the NHL in goals for per game (4.17) since Dec. 20 and are 5-0-1 in that span. Nathan MacKinnon’s 13 points in that six-game span are tied for second in the NHL while his 65 total points are six more than anyone else in the league.
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 9:00 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 — Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis — Adam Boqvist
Nate Schmidt — Toby Bjornfot
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
Injured: Niko Mikkola (DTD), Jonah Gadjovich, Aaron Ekblad
COLORADO AVALANCHE PROJECTED LINEUP
Jonathan Drouin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Artturi Lehkonen — Casey Mittelstadt — Ross Colton
Joel Kiviranta — Parker Kelly — Logan O’Connor
Jere Innala — Juuso Parssinen — Tye Felhaber
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Keaton Middleton — Sam Malinski
(Lines via DailyFaceoff.com)
*Opposing team lines subject to change.