George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers will play the Nashville Predators tonight in Music City without two of their regulars in the lineup.
Matthew Tkachuk remains out with a suspected groin injury, with coach Paul Maurice saying it is too early to talk about a timeline for a return.
Eetu Luostarinen remained in South Florida for the birth of his first child.
Replacing Luostarinen in the lineup is Justin Sourdif.
After playing three games for the Panthers last season, Sourdif will play in his first game with Florida tonight.
“I am super-excited,” Sourdif said. “All you think about is how you can help the team win. That’s my focus.’’
The Panthers are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Kraken after the two-week 4 Nations break. Florida had won five of six before that.
Nashville is in the midst of a very disappointing season. The Predators have lost seven of their past nine.
NOTES: PANTHERS @ PREDATORS
- How to Watch: Tonight’s game is on local TV. The game can also be streamed on Panthers+ locally and ESPN+ nationally.
- Starting Goalies: The Panthers will have Spencer Knight back in net; Jusse Saros starts for the Predators.
- NHL Betting Odds: The Panthers are favorites on the money line (-160) at the local book. To win with the Panthers, a $160 bet pays $100.
ON DECK: GAME No. 59
FLORIDA PANTHERS at NASHVILLE PREDATORS
- When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
- Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville
- 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 (-160); Puck line (-1.5, +160); Over/Under 5.5 (-130/+105)
- Season Series (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Nashville: Feb. 25. At Florida: Panthers 6, Predators 2 (Nov. 7).
- Last Season: Split 1-1
- All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 23-15-6, 3 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Thursday vs. Edmonton Oilers, 7 p.m.
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (34-21-3) LINES
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart
25 Mackie Samoskevich // 9 Sam Bennett // 17 Evan Rodrigues
24 Justin Sourdif // 15 Anton Lundell // 70 Jesper Boqvist
10 A.J. Greer // 94 Tomas Nosek // 12 Jonah Gadjovich
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
77 Niko Mikkola // 7 Dmitry Kulikov
88 Nate Schmidt // 26 Uvis Balinskis
30 Spencer Knight
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: None
Maternity Leave: Eetu Luostarinen
Injured: Matthew Tkachuk (lower body)
PROJECTED NASHVILLE PREDATORS (20-29-7) LINES
9 Filip Forsberg // 90 Ryan O’Reilly // 81 Jonathan Marchessault
91 Steven Stamkos // 40 Fedor Svechkov // 14 Gustav Nyquist
26 Kiefer Bellows // 82 Tommy Novak // 77 Luke Evangelista
36 Cole Smith // 47 Michael McCarron // 10 Colton Sissons
59 Roman Josi // 2 Luke Schenn
76 Brady Skjei // 37 Nick Blankenburg
8 Andreas Englund // 20 Justin Barron
74 Juuse Saros
29 Justus Annunen
Scratched: Jake Livingstone
Injured: Zachary L’Heureux (upper body), Jeremy Lauzon (lower body), Adam Wilsby (upper body), Mark Jankowski (undisclosed)