The Florida Panthers are back on the road for a quick two game trip that will span two nations.
First up will be a stop in Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice’s old stomping grounds.
Florida handily defeated the Winnipeg Jets 5-0 on Saturday night in Sunrise, and now the Jets get a quick shot at redemption as they’ll host the Cats on Tuesday night from Canada Life Centre.
There will surely be some extra motivation on the side of the home team, as the NHL-best Jets come into the game having lost each of their past two outings.
That’s after Winnipeg started the season on an incredible 15-1-0 run, the best in NHL history.
Like the Jets, Florida has been pleased with their start to the season as well.
Despite missing several key players for extended periods of time, the Panthers hold a strong 12-5-1 record, good enough for the top spot in the Atlantic Division entering Tuesday.
Florida held a practice on Monday at the Baptist Health IcePlex before departing for Manitoba.
Forward Jesper Boqvist was not on the ice, but the expectation is that he’ll be fine to play the Jets on Tuesday.
During the first meeting between the two clubs, Boqvist took a hit to the knee from Winnipeg’s Neal Pionk and briefly left the game before eventually returning.
Pionk was subsequently fined $5,000, the maximum amount allowable under the collective bargaining agreement, for clipping.
“He’ll skate tomorrow at the morning skate,” Marucie said. “We think he’s in pretty good shape, but he needed a little more time.”
Here are the Panthers projected lines and for Tuesday’s tilt in Winnipeg:
Evan Rodrigues – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Mackie Samoskevich
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis – Nate Schmidt
Scratches: Jonah Gadjovich, Adam Boqvist
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS – FLORIDA
Returning to Winnipeg as Stanley Cup winner, Paul Maurice speaks fondly of great hockey town
Pair of Panthers continue to pace team with impressive scoring streaks
Three takeaways: Day off helps Panthers get back to what makes them successful
Barkov, Reinhart power Panthers past NHL-best Winnipeg
The Hockey Show: Lomberg’s fists of fury, ranting about embellishment, Panthers talk with Doug Plagens
Read the full article here