GameDay 57: Lineups, Betting Odds for Panthers at Penguins

Remember when the Florida Panthers struggled to win games away from home?

They still do — although it is a fading memory at this point.

On Monday night, the Panthers won their fourth consecutive road game and eighth in their past 10 with a 6-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Things get a little tougher tonight when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team which beat the Panthers the last time they came to town back in November.

Florida, which has won three straight overall, has not lost on the road since a 5-2 loss at the New York Rangers on Feb. 1.

The Panthers have won in Carolina, Minnesota, Chicago and now Buffalo.

“We did not like the results we were getting early on,” Brandon Montour said. “We want to come into every game — whether it’s home or on the road, and you’ve seen our home record — ready to win and there’s no reason we can’t do it.”

• NHL TRADE DEADLINE: Florida Panthers in on Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux

The past two games between the Penguins and Panthers have been pretty even. Both teams have won on home ice, both games going to overtime.

The Penguins had the Panthers on the ropes in the season-opener, holding a 4-2 lead in the third period before Aaron Ekblad scored a pair of goals to force overtime — where Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winner.

In Pittsburgh, Florida trailed 2-1 going into the third but Sasha Barkov tied the score. Florida ended up losing in a shootout.

On Monday night, the Panthers struggled to get anything going against the Sabres but held a 1-0 lead going into the second.

It was in that period where Florida scored four goals — including one from former Penguins Cup hero Patric Hornqvist — to secure the win.

Pittsburgh comes into the night tied for second in the Metropolitan Division, six points back of Carolina. The Penguins and Rangers both have a comfortable eight-point lead on fourth-place Washington.

The Penguins have not played since losing 3-2 in overtime at Carolina on Friday, a loss which snapped a three-game winning streak.

— Florida is expected to have Sergei Bobrovsky in net with the Penguins going with Tristan Jarry.

Monday, it was Spencer Knight’s game and he looked strong in a 29-save performance (the NHL added one after the game).

On Tuesday afternoon, Florida loaned Knight back to Charlotte — although he may rejoin the team for its west coast trip.

The Panthers probably will be without Anton Lundell after he left Monday’s game with a left leg injury.

Unless Florida makes a roster move, that would mean Maxim Mamin returns to game action for the first time since Feb. 24.

If Florida were to place Lundell on injured reserve, Joe Thornton could be activated and put back in the lineup. He has been out since the All-Star break and the plan is he will be activated in the coming days.

FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT PITTSBURGH PENGUINS  

• When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
• Where: PPG Arena, Pittsburgh
• Tickets: CLICK HERE
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM, SiriusXM
• FanDuel odds — Florida slightly favored: Money Line (-111); Puck line (-1.5, +225); Over/Under 6.5 (-110/-110)
• 2021 regular season series: Did not play
• Season Series — Tied 1-0-1: @Florida 5, Pittsburgh 4 (OT), Oct. 14; @Pittsburgh 3, Florida 2 (SO), Nov. 11
• All-time regular season series: Penguins lead 54-34-7, 4 ties

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS LINEUP

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 16 Sasha Barkov // 17 Mason Marchment

11 Jonathan Huberdeau // 9 Sam Bennett // 10 Anthony Duclair

77 Frank Vatrano  // 13 Sam Reinhart // 70 Patric Hornqvist

27 Eetu Luostarinen // 55 Noel Acciari // 98 Maxim Mamin

52 MacKenzie Weegar // 5 Aaron Ekblad

42 Gus Forsling // 7 Radko Gudas

32 Lucas Carlsson // 62 Brandon Montour

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

35 Jonas Johansson

Scratched: Petteri Lindbohm

Injured: Markus Nutivaara (LTIR), Joe Thornton (IR), Ryan Lomberg (IR), Anton Lundell (LBI)

Loaned to Charlotte: Spencer Knight

PROJECTED PITTSBURGH PENGUINS LINEUP

59 Jake Guentzel // 87 Sidney Crosby // 17 Bryan Rust

43 Danton Heinen // 71 Evgeni Malkin // 42 Kasperi Kapanen

23 Brock McGinn // 77 Jeff Carter // 9 Evan Rodrigues

12 Zach Aston-Reese // 11 Brian Boyle // 49 Dominik Simon

8 Brian Dumoulin // 58 Kris Letang

28 Marcus Pettersson // 6 John Marino

52 Mark Friedman // 2 Chad Ruhwedel

35 Tristan Jarry

1 Casey DeSmith

Pittsburgh Penguins lines courtesy DailyFaceoff.com