Florida Panthers Make Adjustments Ahead of Clash with Colorado
In an effort to get out of a 1-4-0 slump, the Florida Panthers made a few adjustments to their lineup before taking on a fast and dynamic Colorado Avalanche team.
FORT LAUDERDALE — In an effort to get out of their roughest stretch of the season, the Florida Panthers have made a slew of changes ahead of their Saturday night match-up with the Colorado Avalanche.
Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell flipped spots, Jesper Boqvist shifted down to center the fourth line and Adam Boqvist will draw into the lineup for the first time in 10 games.
With the Panthers going headfirst into a match-up against a speedy and dangerous Colorado team in the middle of a 1-4-0 stretch, they had to prepare for it somehow.
And perhaps some of these moves could stick.
“The opportunity is there because of the opponent,” coach Paul Maurice said. “They present a certain thing — there are two really powerful lines there — and a little more defensive structure in our top six could be an important thing.”
Particularly, the second line has faltered a bit, with the combination of Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett and Tkachuk coughing up multiple turnovers in its own end that have led to goals.
Luostarinen will get the assignment to help patch things up. Florida has relied on him to shut things down on the penalty kill and take on heavy assignments at 5-on-5 alongside Anton Lundell — and they need more of that from him here.
“He has an ability to stop and knock down pucks, but so does Carter,” Maurice said. “It’s a different style. He’s a penalty killer, right? So, part of the reason is, his brain is wired to see that — to make the adjustments, to move quickly on the defensive side of the puck. He is heavy on the walls and he plays a simpler offensive game. So, he’s not trying to make some plays that we want Carter to make. He has the ability to make those plays.
“Physically, he is a bigger body and a little heavier. When you look at the structure of that second line, they got some size on it now.”
Luostarinen will make that second line a more structured, heavy line on the forecheck — both things that Tkachuk and Bennett have brought for ages now — while the Panthers will have a bit more speed on Line 3.
Verhaeghe will get a chance to get going against lighter assignments, and he will need it.
The shifty goal scorer who has been automatic for at least 30 goals the past couple of years has just three goals through 20 games this season and has a plus/minus of minus-20 after making a litany of mistakes trying to break out of it.
He will play alongside a dynamic two-way center in Lundell and a speedy youngster who is finding his groove in Mackie Samoskevich in an effort to get out of it.
“I think Carter Verhaeghe has been working his butt off, and he has been absolutely all over it, and it’s just not going for him,” Maurice said. “Carter need a change. And that is just a change.
“Usually when a guy is struggling a little bit, he’s not working nearly as hard as he thinks he is. He’s gone away from his game and he is trying a bunch of different things. He’s away from the puck… This guy’s trying, he’s all over it, it’s just not going for him”
Jesper Boqvist will slot into Tomas Nosek’s usual fourth-line center spot on Saturday night, which is in part to bring a bit more speed to that line against a Colorado team that has been known to turn games into track meets. Jonah Gadjovich, meanwhile, comes back into the lineup to bring some physicality on the wing, which the Panthers have liked.
Adam Boqvist, meanwhile, gets his shot after being a healthy scratch ever since Aleksander Barkov returned to the lineup from an injury on Oct. 28.
“He will learn something here tonight, because this is as fast as a team you’re going to face for the most part,” Maurice said of the 24-year-old defenseman. “He’s been out a while, that’s tough, but it’s also the job. But what a great opportunity to come in and be good against that team. That means something, and you can kind of hang your hat on that.”
THE NEWS
Sergei Bobrovsky will start in goal for the Panthers against the Avalanche tonight.
Today’s game will air at 6:00 p.m. EST and will be broadcasted on Scripps Sports and the Panthers Plus app. It will also be available on ESPN+ for out-of-market viewers.
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 — Mackie Samoskevich
A.J. Greer — Jesper Boqvist — Jonah Gadjovich
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Dmitry Kulikov
Adam Boqvist — Uvis Balinskis
Spencer Knight
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Nate Schmidt, Tomas Nosek
COLORADO AVALANCHE PROJECTED LINEUP
Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Jonathan Drouin
Valeri Nichushkin — Casey Mittlestadt — Mikko Rantanen
Joel Kiviranta — Ivan Ivan — Logan O’Connor
Miles Wood — Parker Kelly — Nikolai Kovalenko
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Oliver Kylington — Sam Malinski
Alexandar Georgiev
Justus Annunen
(Lines via DailyFaceoff.com)
*Opposing team lines subject to change.