Blues at Panthers: Bennett Update, Lines, How to Watch

FORT LAUDERDALE — After a long and cold sojourn, the Florida Panthers are back on home ice tonight facing the St. Louis Blues.

Sam Bennett is not only considered a game-time decision, but perhaps a so-called ‘arrival’ decision.

Bennett missed Wednesday’s rout in Minnesota with an illness, and also did not participate in Friday’s morning skate.

Coach Paul Maurice said that it was not worth having Bennett come out for what was basically a 15-minute skate, so, he is going to wait and see how Bennett feels when he gets to the arena tonight.

“We will make a decision on Sam Bennett’s energy level when he gets to the rink,’’ Maurice said.

“He is feeling better over the past few days than the two days prior.”

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One player the Panthers will rule out is Jesper Boqvist, who left Wednesday’s game after going hard against a stanchion along the Wild bench.

Boqvist, Maurice confirmed, was in concussion protocol in the room after leaving the game.

Maurice said Boqvist is day-to-day.

If Boqvist and Bennett cannot play tonight,  Florida would go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Maurice said they likely would use Uvis Balinskis as a 12th forward, but only in limited action.

“I thought we were going to pretty good at the morning skate,” Maurice said. “I would do that if I thought we were dragging. Barkov is feeling good. We don’t have a guy who I wouldn’t be able to double shift. We’ll go with the flow of the game.”

• The Blues did not have a morning skate after losing 3-1 in Tampa on Thursday. They have lost four of the past five.
• How to Watch: Tonight’s game is back on local television, which means it can also be streamed locally on Panthers+ or ESPN+ (outside the Panthers TV footprint).
• Starting Goalies: The Panthers will start Sergei Bobrovsky; since the Blues did not having a morning skate, they could go with either Jordan Binnington or Joel Hofer. Binnington started last night, but was pulled in the second after giving up three goals.
• NHL Betting Odds: The Panthers are heavy betting favorites tonight with the local book having them at -300 on the money line. So, to bet the Panthers to win, a $300 bet pays $100.

ON DECK: GAME No. 34

ST. LOUIS BLUES AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Friday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• 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 (-300); Puck line (-1.5, -115); Over/Under 5.5 (-115/-115)
• This Season — At Florida: Friday. At St. Louis: Feb. 6.
• Last Season: Even 1-1
• All-time Regular Season Series: St. Louis leads 27-13-1, 3 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Sunday at Tampa Bay Lightning, 5 p.m.

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (20-11-2) LINES

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 16 Sasha Barkov // 19 Matthew Tkachuk

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

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

10 AJ 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

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

30 Spencer Knight

Scratched: Adam Boqvist

Injured: Jesper Boqvist (concussion)

PROJECTED ST. LOUIS BLUES (15-16-3) LINES

63 Jake Neighbours // 18 Robert Thomas // 89 Pavel Buchnevich

13 Alexey Toropchenko // 10 Brayden Schenn // 25 Jordan Kyrou

20 Brandon Saad // 81 Dylan Holloway // 76 Zack Bolduc

9 Alexandre Texier // 26  Nathan Walker // 71 Mathieu Joseph

17 Cam Fowler // 55 Colton Parayko

22 Ryan Suter // 72 Justin Faulk

6 Philip Broberg // 48 Scott Perunovich

30 Joel Hofer

50 Jordan Binnington

Scratched: Oskar Sundqvist, Tyler Tucker

Injured: Nick Leddy (lower body), Radek Faksa (lower body)