Ek's note: Mark has been writing and podcasting on hockey since 2004 and comes to HockeyBuzz with a high knowledge of all things Panthers. His passion for delivering great to content to devoted hockey fans flows through his own love and devotion to the sport. In addition to writing for Hockeybuzz, Mark also produces a bi-weekly podcast called Overtime Hockey Talk. You can find Mark on Twitter at @markpaul. Welcome Mark!
Panthers (38-28-7 83 points) at Islanders (31-34-10 72 points) - 7:00 PM ET Barclays Center - Brooklyn, NY TV: FOX Sports Florida & MSG+ Radio: CBS Radio Miami's 560 WQAM, WMEN-AM Fox Sports 640 (Palm Beach), WCTH-FM Thunder Country 100.3 (Florida Keys), and WAXE 1370/107.9 (Treasure Coast) Online Streams: FOXSportsGo.com & NHL.tv
Injury Report Florida Panthers Roberto Luongo (Day-to-day with minor upper body injury since March 24)
New York Islanders Casey Cizikas (day-to-day with upper-body injury) Scott Mayfield (day-to-day with LBI) Thomas Greiss (IR for LBI since Feb 16) Shane Prince (IR since Jan 18 with UBI) Niklay Kulemin (Day-to-day while recovering from shoulder surgery) Calvin de Haan (IR with season-ending shoulder surgery)
Lineups Florida Panthers Forward Lines Evgeny Dadonov - Aleksander Barkov - Nick Bjugstad Jonathan Huberdeau - Vincent Trocheck - Frank Vatrano Maxim Mamin - Jared McCann - Denis Malgin Jamie McGinn - Derek Mackenzie - Colton Sceviour
Defense Pairings Keith Yandle - Aaron Ekblad Michael Matheson - Mark Pysyk Mackenzie Weeger - Alex Petrovic
Goaltenders James Reimer (likely starter) Roberto Luongo
New York Islanders Forward Lines Anders Lee - John Tavares - Josh Bailey Anthony Beauvillier - Mathew Barzal - Jordan Eberle Andrew Ladd - Brock Nelson - Tanner Fritz Ross Johnston - Chris Wagner - Cal Clutterbuck
Defense Pairings Nick Leddy - Johnny Boychuk Thomas Hickey - Ryan Pulock Brandon Davidson - Adam Pelech
Goaltenders Chris Gibson (confirmed starting) Jaroslav Halak
Pre-Game Preview The Florida Panthers fought back from a 2-0 deficit against the Arizona Coyotes to ultimately win 4-2 in a crucial game that keeps the Cats in contention for the final Eastern conference wild card spot. Vincent Trocheck led the way scoring two goals in just over three minutes to tie the game. They continue their trek for a playoff spot on Monday against the New York Islanders.
In a virtual must-win against the Islanders, the Panthers will surely rely upon their top six for most of it's offensive production. Barkov played over 24 minutes against the Coyotes, while Trocheck played 20:27. It's clear neither one of these centers are going to have their ice time lowered for the remainder of the season. One has to wonder how long these two can keep this up.
The Panthers have gone on a phenomenal run in the last quarter of the regular season going 19-5-1 since January 30. If their run is to continue, they have to get some extra production out of their bottom six fowards. Jamie McGinn has 12 goals, leading the way for the bottom six. That's not enough.
Aaron Ekblad will see a heavy dose of John Tavares and head coach Bob Boughner needs to have his team ready for the offensive attack of the Islanders. While the Islanders are all but eliminated from playoff contention, they still have the most goals scored out of any non-playoff team, but also have allowed the most goals in the league at 273. Chris Gibson makes his sixth start tonight, coming in with a record of 2-1-2, a goals against average of 3.48 and a save percentage of .915.
Florida needs to manage this game well. Both these teams turnover the puck a lot, but the Cats are fourth in the league in takeaways, so they should be able to use that skill to disrupt the Islanders neutral zone play. Also, look for the Panthers to control play off the faceoff. Florida is ninth in the league in faceoff percentage, while the Islanders sit a paltry 24th.
If Florida can control the play and stifle New York's offensive onslaught, this team will live another day and move closer to the New Jersey Devils for the final playoff spot.
Current Wild Card Standings Philadelphia 38-25-13 89 points 6 games remaning New Jersey 39-28-8 86 points 7 games remaining Florida 38-28-7 83 points 9 games remaining