Panthers vs. Wild: Tkachuk Returns, Bobrovsky Goes for 400

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild will take part in the NHL’s ‘Frozen Frenzy’ tonight and there should be plenty of interest in this game with Matthew Tkachuk returning and Sergei Bobrovsky going for his 400th win.

Tkachuk confirmed Tuesday that he has been out of the lineup not due to an illness as it had been described — but what he called a “procedure.”

Per a team source, Tkachuk had what was originally thought to be an upper-respiratory condition and left the team to fly home.

After being placed on antibiotics, his condition improved to the point he was able to resume skating after a couple of days.

Tkachuk missed five games.

He will be back in the lineup tonight against the Wild.

“I am feeling very good,’’ Tkachuk said. “I was never really sick, just had to have a little procedure done. I have been good since then, and just had to take a few days to make sure everything was all settled. Ready to get back into the lineup and help.’’

Florida went 3-1-1 since Tkachuk and captain Sasha Barkov were away from the team.

Barkov, who sustained what is believed to be an ankle injury after crashing into the end boards skates-first in Ottawa, could return this week.

“The guys are playing well,’’ Tkachuk said. “They are working so hard, playing simple, working for each other. I am happy to get back in to help them out.’’

Bobrovsky will make his sixth start in the first eight games tonight as he attempts to become only the 14th goalie in NHL history to hit 400 wins.

He is nine wins away from surpassing Glenn Hall for 11th place all-time in victories.

Bobrovsky currently ranks 14th behind Chris Osgood (401) and Grant Fuhr (403).

“He’s amazing and he works so hard,” Tkachuk said. “He is a true leader in his preparation, how he takes care of himself, just being a pro. He is the best at it. Just seeing him over the last few years in person, day after day after day, is incredible.

“He is somebody that I can learn a lot from. I love talking to him and learning new things about what he’s done and how maybe it can help me out.”

— Tonight’s starting goalies will be Bobrovsky and Filip Gustavsson.

— With Tkachuk back in, the Panthers will be able to ice 12 forwards (including Uvis Balinskis on the fourth line) and six defensemen.

Coach Paul Maurice said Monday that Jonah Gadjovich would remain out with back spasms.

ON DECK: GAME NO. 8

MINNESOTA WILD AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/Fort Lauderdale); WHDT 9 (West Palm); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/Fort Myers)
• 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
• Local Odds — Panthers Favored: Money Line (-145); Puck line (-1.5, -155); Over/Under 6 (+100/-120)
• Last Season: Wild won 2-0
• This Season — At Minnesota: Dec. 18. At Florida: Tuesday.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Minnesota leads 20-10-2, 1 tie
• Up Next for the Panthers: Thursday at New York Rangers, 7 p.m.

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (4-2-1) LINES

13 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 13 Sam Reinhart

23 Carter Verhaeghe// 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk

10 A.J. Greer // 70 Jesper Boqvist // 25 Mackie Samoskevich

17 Evan Rodrigues // 36 Patrick Giles // 26 Uvis Balinskis

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

77 Niko Mikkola // 7 Dmitry Kulikov

34 Adam Boqvist // 88 Nate Schmidt

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

30 Spencer Knight

Scratched: None

Injured: Sasha Barkov (LBI), Jonah Gadjovich (back), Tomas Nosek (LTIR-UBI), Justin Sourdif (UBI)

PROJECTED MINNESOTA WILD (3-0-1) LINES

97 Kirill Kaprizov // 23 Marco Rossi // 36 Mats Zuccarello

90 Marcus Johansson // 14 Joel Eriksson Ek // 12 Matt Boldy

17 Marcus Foligno // 22 Marat Khusnutdinov // 13 Yakov Trenin

94 Jakub Lauko // 89 Frederick Gaudreau // 28 Liam Ohgren

5 Jake Middleton // 7 Brock Faber

25 Jonas Brodin // 24 Zach Bogosian

4 Jon Merrill // 47 Declan Chisholm

32 Filip Gustavsson

29 Marc-Andre Fleury

Scratched: Daemon Hunt

Injured: Jared Spurgeon (lower body), Ryan Hartman (upper body)

Minnesota Wild Projected Lines Courtesy NHL.com