Sam Bennett May Return, Florida Panthers Tweak Lines v. Devils

FORT LAUDERDALE — Sam Bennett will be a game-time decision for the Florida Panthers when they play their second game of the week against the New Jersey Devils.

Bennett missed Tuesday’s loss to the Devils with an upper-body injury.

He did skate Thursday morning and coach Paul Maurice said if Bennett felt good after warmups tonight, he would be back centering the second line.

“He seems fine, seems ready to go,’’ Maurice said. “If he felt good today, it was our expectation is that he comes back. We won’t declare him playing until he gets through warmup and looks right.’’

With Bennett likely to return, Maurice shifted his top three forward lines.

Jesper Boqvist, who replaced Bennett at center on Tuesday, remains on that second line — only at left wing with Matthew Tkachuk on the right.

Carter Verhaeghe moves back with Sasha Barkov and Sam Reinhart; Evan Rodrigues moves to the right side of Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen. 

“You are always looking ahead to see what might work,’’ Maurice said. “I have been interested in seeing Jesper on the left side of that line for two or three weeks now. … We just haven’t had the chance to do it.’’

— The starting goalies will be Sergei Bobrovsky and Jake Allen. 

The Devils will not be making any other lineup changes.

ON DECK: GAME 17

NEW JERSEY DEVILS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Thursday, 7 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 (-150); Puck line (-1.5, -155); Over/Under 6 (-120/+100)
• Season Series (Devils Lead 1-0) — At Panthers: Jersey 4, Florida 1 (Nov. 12); Thursday. At Devils: Jan. 14.
• Last Season: Florida won 2-1
• All-time Regular Season Series: Devils lead 58-37-7, 7 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Winnipeg Jets, 6 

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (11-4-1) LINES

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

70 Jesper Boqvist// 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk

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

10 AJ Greer // 92 Tomas Nosek // 12 Jonah Gadjovich

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

77 Niko Mikkola // 7 Dmitry Kulikov

88 Nate Schmidt // 26 Uvis Balinskis

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

30 Spencer Knight

Scratched: Adam Boqvist, Mackie Samoskevich

PROJECTED NEW JERSEY DEVILS (11-6-2) LINES

28 Timo Meier // 13 Nico Hischier // 11 Stefan Noesen

18 Ondrej Palat // 86 Jack Hughes // 63 Jesper Bratt

47 Paul Cotter // 56 Erik Haula // 91 Dawson Mercer

23 Kurtis MacDermid // 37 Justin Dowling // 90 Tomas Tatar

5 Brenden Dillon // 7 Dougie Hamilton

71 Jonas Siegenthaler // 8 Jonathan Kovacevic

43 Luke Hughes // 22 Brett Pesce

34 Jake Allen

25 Jacob Markstrom

Scratched: Nick DeSimone

Injured: Nathan Bastian (jaw), Curtis Lazar (knee)

New Jersey Devils Lines Courtesy NHL.com