The Panthers stuck to a more simplified game plan on Saturday night and it paid off in a 5-3 victory over a solid Minnesota Wild team.
Alex Lyon continues to impress, turning away 29 of Minnesota’s 32 shots. With Knight possibly returning to the team today, I would still expect Lyon to get the start tonight since Knight played twice over the weekend.
It appears both Ekblad and Bennet will be ready to go tonight as well. They were spotted during the morning skate in New York after sustaining injuries on Saturday.
No changes to lineup according to Maurice. Here is what tonight should look like vs. NY.
— Katie Engleson (@KatieEngleson) January 23, 2023
Lundell - Barkov - Reinhart
Verhaeghe - Bennett - Tkachuk
Denisenko - Luostarinen - Cousins
Lomberg - Tierney - Smith
Forsling - Ekblad
Staal - Montour
Mahura - Gudas
Lyon
Knight
It’s another big game for the Cats as they take on the 24-14-7 New York Rangers. The Rags are in third place of the Metropolitan Division and beat Florida the last time these two teams met in early January (5-3). Besides the obvious guys like Panarin, what stood out to me last game was the amount of Rangers who are willing to go to the front of the net and set up shop. Florida will need to do a good job of clearing these distractions away from Lyon. They will also need to keep their heads up with Trouba roaming around…
Maurice should have the same approach tonight as he had his team execute on Saturday. The Panthers are inching closer to a playoff spot, and only three points behind the Penguins, this is a big time game for Florida to gain some points.
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Go Panthers!