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April 9, 2026
Panthers senators

So, who is left for the Florida Panthers when they play the Ottawa Senators tonight?

Not too many, that’s for sure.

Paul Maurice said Thursday morning that not only was Dmitry Kulikov lost with a broken finger sustained in the shootout loss to Montreal on Tuesday, but Seth Jones fractured his foot in that game as well.


With those two out, rookies Marek Alscher and Ludvig Jansson will be the fifth and sixth players to make his NHL debut with the Panthers this season.

”Old Man Forsling and the Kids,’’ Maurice joked.

Ottawa holds the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and Florida’s banged up backend is not doing the Columbus Blue Jackets any favors.

Columbus comes into tonight two points behind the Senators.

NOTES: PANTHERS at SENATORS

  • Brady Tkachuk cheered on his older brother the past three postseasons. Now, it may be time for Matthew to do the same.
  • Nick Cousins will forever be a part of Florida Panthers lore — whether he plays for the Senators or anyone else.
  • TNT dropped the Panthers/Red Wings season finale meaning you’ll get a bonus game with Randy and Goldie.
  • Congrats to Brad Marchand for being named the Panthers’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy by the Florida chapter of the PHWA.
  • If you have Comcast Xfinity cable, you will not have access to today’s game unless things change. Last Tuesday, the media giant knocked off all Scripps-owned stations nationwide — including in the middle of Florida’s 6-3 win against the Senators.
  • Starting Goalies: The Panthers will have Sergei Bobrovsky back in net. Old pal James Reimer gets the call for the Senators.
  • How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are on local TV today. It can be streamed locally on Panthers+ and nationally on ESPN+.
  • NHL Betting Odds: The Senators are huge favorites today at -325 on the money line meaning to bet them to win, a $325 bet pays $100. If you think the Panthers will pull the upset, a $100 bet pays $250. The only bigger favorite on the money line today at our local book is the Colorado Avalanche (-350) playing host to the Flames.
ON DECK: GAME No. 79
FLORIDA PANTHERS at OTTAWA SENATORS 

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (37-37-4) LINES

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 11 Mackie Samoskevich

70 Jesper Boqvist // 27 Eetu Luostarinen // 10 A.J. Greer

79 Cole Schwindt // 92 Tomas Nosek // 18 Noah Gregor

25 Nolan Foote // 71 Luke Kunin // 29 Vinnie Hinostroza

42 Gus Forsling // 20 Mike Benning

6 Donovan Sebrango // 54 Ludvig Jansson

22 Toby Bjornfot // 4 Marek Alscher

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

40 Daniil Tarasov

Scratched: Matthew Tkachuk, Cole Reinhardt

Injured: Seth Jones (foot), Dmitry Kulikov (finger), Aaron Ekblad (hand), Evan Rodrigues (finger), Sam Reinhart (foot), Niko Mikkola (knee), Anton Lundell (ribs), Uvis Balinskis (fractured foot), Brad Marchand (lower body), Sasha Barkov (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)

PROJECTED OTTAWA SENATORS (41-27-10) LINES

19 Drake Batherson // 18 Tim Stutzle // 28 Claude Giroux

7 Brady Tkachuk // 24 Dylan Cozens // 71 Ridly Greig

21 Nick Cousins // 12 Shane Pinto // 22 Michael Amadio

37 Warren Foegele // 89 Lars Eller // 20 Fabian Zetterlund

85 Jake Sanderson // 2 Artem Zub

72 Thomas Chabot  // 10 Jordan Spence

60 Lassi Thompson  // 33 Nikolas Matinpalo

47 James Reimer 

35 Linus Ullmark

Scratched: Stephen Halliday, Kurtis MacDermid, Cameron Crotty

Injured: Nick Jensen (lower body), Dennis Gilbert (upper body), Tyler Kleven (upper body)

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