Florida Panthers
Florida Panthers Make Changes Before Playing Avalanche
FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers, having lost four of their past five, are making some line changes before playing host to the Colorado Avalanche tonight.
Of Florida’s four forward lines, only the top is untouched.
Coach Paul Maurice has mixed things up: Carter Verhaeghe and Eetu Luostarinen are flipping spots, while Jesper Boqvist replaces Tomas Nosek in centering the fourth line.
Adam Boqvist is also getting back in after being scratched the past 10 games.
In explaining the moves, Maurice said they were made for a couple of reasons.
First, it is matchup. Colorado, Maurice said, has “two really powerful lines there. A little more defensive structure in our top six could be an important thing.”
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In the case of Verhaeghe, however, this is just a change of pace.
Verhaeghe has not scored in his past six games after having a run of four in six.
It is not for a lack of trying.
“Carter Verhaeghe has been working his butt off,’’ Maurice said, “and he has been absolutely all over it. It’s just not going for him. Carter needs a change, and this is just a change. … This guy’s trying. He’s all over it, it’s just not going for him.’’
For Luostarinen, this is an opportunity to see what the Panthers have if they have to make a move as the season goes along.
He has been playing with Anton Lundell so long, one would imagine some sort of tearful parting when the two lined up on different lines Saturday.
That was not the case.
And, this is not forever. Lundell and Luostarinen are so good together, they will be back together soon enough.
“We have done this before,” Luostarinen said. “It’s just a change-of-pace kind of thing.”
— The starting goalies: Sergei Bobrovsky vs. Alexandar Georgiev.
— Maurice on Adam Boqvist being out so long: “We’ll learn something tonight. This is about as fast a team as you will find. He’s been out a while, and that is tough. It’s also the job. What a great opportunity to come in and be good against that team.”
— Maurice said he has five guys — including Nosek — he may rotate between the third and fourth lines. “I’m going to move these guys in and out a little bit,’’ Maurice said.
— Maurice on Aaron Ekblad getting a chance to run the top power play: “Right shot. If you put a lefty in there, it tends to work more on the other side of the ice. We don’t like that as much. We like it on the Barkov side with a right-handed shot.’’
— Colorado has won five of six and three straight.
The Avalanche are not expected to make any changes before tonight’s game against the Panthers.
“They are a great team and I expect this to be a hard-fought game here tonight,’’ coach Jared Bednar said. “We have been doing some good things, and there are some things we would like to improve on, no question. … They have just come off the road, had a couple of tough losses but are back home. They’ll be looking to get back on track.’’
ON DECK: GAME 21
COLORADO AVALANCHE AT FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
- Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
- Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/FTM)
- Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
- Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Betting Odds — Panthers Favored: Money Line (-130); Puck line (-1.5, +175); Over/Under 6 (-120/+100)
- Last Season: Panthers Won 2-0
- This Season — At Colorado: Jan. 6. At Florida: Saturday.
- All-time Regular Season Series: Colorado leads 27-14-5, 3 ties
- Postseason Series: Colorado d. Florida 4-0, 1996 Stanley Cup Final
- Up Next for the Panthers: Monday vs. Washington Capitals, 7 p.m.
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (12-7-1) LINES
17 Evan Rodrigues // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart
27 Eetu Luostarinen // 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 15 Anton Lundell // 25 Mackie Samoskevich
10 AJ Greer // 70 Jesper Boqvist // 12 Jonah Gadjovich
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
77 Niko Mikkola // 7 Dmitry Kulikov
24 Adam Boqvist // 26 Uvis Balinskis
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
30 Spencer Knight
Scratched: Nate Schmidt, Tomas Nosek
PROJECTED COLORADO AVALANCHE (11-9-0) LINES
62 Artturi Lehkonen // 29 Nathan MacKinnon // 27 Jonathan Drouin
13 Valeri Nichushkin // 37 Casey Mittelstadt // 96 Mikko Rantanen
94 Joel Kiviranta // 82 Ivan Ivan // 25 Logan O’Connor
28 Miles Wood // 17 Parker Kelly // 51 Nikolai Kovalenko
7 Devon Toews // 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard // 42 Josh Manson
58 Oliver Kylington // 70 Sam Malinski
40 Alexandar Georgiev
60 Justus Annunen
Scratched: John Ludvig, Calvin de Haan, T.J. Tynan, Kevin Mandolese
Injured: Ross Colton (broken foot), Gabriel Landeskog (knee), Tucker Poolman (head)
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Ok, I don’t mind seeing Eetu on that second line, his playing style certainly fits, he’s a grinder, always works hard and keeps his feet moving, he’ll do all the little things that make a shift successful. Lundell always seems to “up” his game when playing with elite line mates, having Hags on his wing , in theory, should bring out the best in him. We needed to do something.
I’m sure Paul has this well in hand. A little concerned with the lack of size on the third line. Hoping it works out, that’s a lot of speed in one spot.