The Florida Panthers will be looking to keep the good times rolling when they wrap up their latest back-to-back set on Sunday.
Florida is fresh off Saturday’s 5-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks and have now won both games on their current homestand and three straight in Sunrise overall as they prepare to host the New York Islanders to close out their weekend.
Like Florida, the Islanders will also be playing on the second night of a back-to-back.
New York is coming off a 3-2 overtime victory in Tampa Bay, which extended their season-long winning streak to seven games.
The Isles added a pair of defensemen in the past week – one of which was claimed off waivers from Florida – and both played a big part in the win over the Lightning.
Former Panther Adam Boqvist scored a goal and newly signed Tony DeAngelo scored in overtime to secure the victory.
Both are expected to be in the lineup Sunday in South Florida.
As for the Panthers, rookie Mackie Samoskevich was held out of Saturday’s win over the Blackhawks due to an illness.
Florida Head Coach Paul Maurice said Samoskevich will probably miss Sunday’s game as well so he can come back fresh and healthy, but he didn’t completely take the option off the table.
Spencer Knight is expected to get the nod in goal for the Cats after Sergei Bobrovsky played Saturday afternoon.
Knight is fresh off an excellent month of January in which he went 3-2-0 with a 1.47 goals against average and .946 save percentage.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Sunday’s matchup with the Isles:
Carter Verhaeghe– Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Jesper Boqvist– Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Jonah Gadjovich
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis – Nate Schmidt
Scratches: Mackie Samoskevich
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS – FLORIDA
Three takeaways: Early wake-up call, Gadjovich’s impactful return
Balanced scoring, strong goaltending lead Panthers to 5-1 victory over Chicago
The Hockey Show: Vancouver drama, Tony-D’s latest second chance, Greg Wyshynski
Panthers looking to string some wins together, set to host lowly Blackhawks
Adam Boqvist on waivers could mean a few things for Florida’s blueline
Read the full article here
