How to Watch Panthers at Blue Jackets: Lines, Goalies, Odds

COLUMBUS — Both the Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets could use a win tonight at Nationwide Arena.

Columbus, in particular.

The Blue Jackets looked well on their way to a spot in the playoffs after sweeping a two-game set against Detroit — including a 5-3 win at the Stadium Series held at nearby Ohio Stadium on March 1.

Only Columbus has won just once since then, going 1-6 including a pair of losses to the Lightning and Panthers coming off that big win at The Shoe.

The Blue Jackets come into tonight’s game with losses in their past four, and sit three points back of Montreal in the tight race for the final wild-card position.

The Panthers are on the final leg of a six-game road trip, one in which they started 1-3 and then went home for a few days.

Florida went from having a four-point lead on Toronto and Tampa Bay atop the Atlantic Division to being tied with the Maple Leafs and two points up on the Lightning.

The Panthers play three games in the next four games: Tonight in Columbus, Saturday in Washington, and Sunday at home against the Penguins.

“In my career, I have never had three days at home in the middle of a road trip,’’ Paul Maurice said. “It’s an unusual anomaly. I am not feeling that we needed to go home after losing three of four.’’

The Panthers have outscored the Jackets 7-3 in their two wins against Columbus this season.

Since Dec. 13, 2022, Florida has won seven straight against Columbus.

NOTES: PANTHERS @ BLUE JACKETS

• Brad Marchand is on this second leg of the trip and continues to work back from his upper-body injury that could sideline him through the end of the month. He worked with Tomas Nosek long after the morning skate ended for the game crew.
• How to Watch: Tonight’s game is on local TV and can be streamed nationally on  ESPN+ and locally on Panthers+.
• Starting Goalies: Florida will go with Sergei Bobrovsky, who shutout the Jackets in their previous meetings. He is 12-2-1 with a .926 save percentage against his former team. Elvis Merzlikins gets the start for the Blue Jackets after missing the past two games.
• NHL Betting Odds: The Panthers are slight favorites on the money line (-185) at the local book. To win with the Panthers, a $185 bet pays $100.

ON DECK: GAME No. 69

FLORIDA PANTHERS at COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS 

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SW Fla)
• 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 (-185); Puck line (-1.5, +130); Over/Under 5.5 (-130/+105)
• This Season (Panthers lead 2-0) — At Florida: Panthers 3, Blue Jackets 0 (March 3). At Columbus: Panthers 4, Blue Jackets 3 (Oct. 15); Thursday.
• Last Season: Panthers Won 3-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Tied 26-26
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Washington Capitals, 5 p.m.

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (41-24-3) LINES

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart

25 Mackie Samoskevich // 9 Sam Bennett // 17 Evan Rodrigues

27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 70 Jesper Boqvist

10 A.J. Greer // 8 Nico Sturm // 12 Jonah Gadjovich

42 Gus Forsling // 3 Seth Jones

77 Niko Mikkola // 88 Nate Schmidt

26 Uvis Balinskis // 4 Toby Bjornfot

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

41 Vitek Vanecek

Scratched: Tomas Nosek

Suspended: Aaron Ekblad

Injured: Matthew Tkachuk (lower body/LTIR), Brad Marchand (upper body), Dmitry Kulikov (upper body)

PROJECTED COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (31-28-8) LINES

91 Kent Johnson // 19 Adam Fantilli // 86 Kirill Marchenko

10 Dmitri Voronkov // 38 Boone Jenner // 59 Yegor Chinakhov

27 Zach Aston-Reese // 17 Justin Danforth // 24 Mathieu Olivier

21 James van Riemsdyk // 7 Sean Kuraly // 11 Luke Kunin

8 Zach Werenski // 15 Dante Fabbro

5 Denton Mateychuk // 9 Ivan Provorov

3 Jack Johnson // 78 Damon Severson

90 Elvis Merzlikins

40 Daniil Tarasov

Scratched: Jordan Harris, Christian Fischer

Injured: Cole Sillinger (upper body), Erik Gudbranson (upper body), Sean Monahan (wrist), Jake Christensen (upper body)

Blue Jackets Lines Courtesy NHL.com