Panthers v. Lightning Game 2: Lomberg Out, Lorentz In

FORT LAUDERDALE — Ryan Lomberg will be out of the lineup for the Florida Panthers in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning due to illness.

Steven Lorentz will replace Lomberg on Florida’s fourth line.

Lorentz earned this opportunity after finding himself on the outside of the lineup looking in for long stretches during the regular season.

Jonah Gadjovich held down that role before trade deadline acquisitions Kyle Okposo and Vladimir Tarasenko created an even bigger log jam up front.

But he proved himself when he got his chance when injuries and illnesses plagued the Panthers down the stretch.

“It says a lot,” coach Paul Maurice said of Lorentz’s willingness to stay in the fight down the stretch.

“When we’re talking about players who don’t have a five-year deal, they have an opportunity to become disenfranchised. So when we [traded for] them, they thought, ‘hey, great opportunity.’ And then they’re in and out of the lineup when guys got healthy. And then he had a long stretch where he didn’t play.

“For him to do what he did to stay in the fight, come to practice hard, work hard every day, … good on him. He made the decision to give himself another chance.”

— The Panthers will have no other lineup changes.

— The starting goalies: Sergei Bobrovsky vs. Andrei Vasilevskiy.

— Tampa Bay did not have a morning skate on Tuesday. Despite having a couple of players miss Monday’s practice for maintenance, the Lightning is expected to have the same lineup for Game 2 as well.

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (WC1) VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS (ATL1)

PANTHERS LEAD BEST-OF-7 SERIES 1-0

GAME 2

• When: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV/National TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida/ESPN2/ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Local Betting Odds — Panthers Favored: Money Line (-175); Puck line (-1.5, +135); Over/Under 5.5 (-130/+105). Series Florida -425
• First Round (Panthers Lead 1-0) — Game 1: Panthers 3, Lightning 2 (Sunday); Game 2: Tuesday at Florida, 7:30 (BSF, ESPN2); Game 3: Thursday at Tampa Bay, 7 (BSF, TBS); Game 4: Saturday Ap. 27 at Tampa Bay, 5 (BSF, TBS, TruTV); Game 5*: Monday Ap. 29 at Florida, TBA (BSF, TBA); Game 6*: Wednesday May 1 at Tampa Bay, TBA (BSF, TBA); Game 7*: Saturday May 4 at Florida, TBA (BSF, TBA). (*) — If necessary
• 2023-24 Regular Season Series (Panthers Won 2-1) — At Tampa Bay: Panthers 3, Lightning 2 (Dec. 27); Panthers 9, Lightning 2 (Feb. 17). At Florida: Lightning 5, Panthers 3 (March 16).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 77-51-19, 10 ties
• All-Time Postgame Series: Lightning Leads 2-0 (2021 first-round, 2022 ECS)

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS LINES

10 Vladimir Tarasenko // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart

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

27 Eetu Luostarinen //15 Anton Lundell // 17 Evan Rodrigues

18 Steven Lorentz // 82 Kevin Stenlund // 21 Nick Cousins

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

77 Niko Mikkola //  62 Brandon Montour

91 Oliver Ekman-Larsson // 7 Dmitry Kulikov

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

41 Anthony Stolarz

Scratched: Kyle Okposo, Jonah Gadjovich, Josh Mahura, Toby Bjornfot, Uvis Balinskis, Evan Cormier

Injured: Ryan Lomberg (illness)

PROJECTED TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING LINES

10 Anthony Duclair // 21 Brayden Point //86 Nikita Kucherov

38 Brandon Hagel // 71 Anthony Cirelli // 91 Steven Stamkos

23 Michael Eyssimont //20 Nicholas Paul // 41 Mitchell Chaffee

64 Tyler Motte // 11 Luke Glendening // 84 Tanner Jeannot

77 Victor Hedman // 43 Darren Raddysh

48 Nick Perbix // 81 Erik Cernak

78 Emil Lilleberg // 24 Matt Dumba

88 Andrei Vasilevskiy 

90 Matt Tomkins

Scratched: Austin Watson, Calvin de Haan, Conor Sheary, Max Crozier

Injured: Haydn Fleury (upper body), Jonas Johansson (lower body), Mikhail Sergachev (leg)

Tampa Bay Lightning Lines Courtesy NHL.com