SUNRISE, Fla. – Almost time.
In the final game of the preseason, the Florida Panthers will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at Amerant Bank Arena at 7 p.m. ET.
With that, the Panthers move another step closer to opening night in Sunrise against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday Oct. 7 at 5 p.m. ET.
“One more preseason game to go and then everybody’s excited to get the regular season going,” said forward Eetu Luostarinen following the team’s skate at Baptist Health IcePlex.
After games in Orlando and Tampa Bay, the Battle of Florida will make its way to Sunrise, for the third straight meeting between the teams.
Fielding what could be much of the opening night rosters for both squads in Thursday’s tilt, the game had all the intensity of a postseason meeting.
A 5-2 loss for the Panthers at Benchmark International Arena, the scoresheet stood out more than the scoreboard when the final horn sounded, as the cross-state rivals racked up a combined 186 penalty minutes.
“I think it just brings the group together,” forward Carter Verhaeghe said of the game. “Everyone’s sticking up for each other out there, it just builds camaraderie, guys are stepping up. It was a great game, but hopefully we can play more hockey next game.
Going with another veteran-heavy lineup, the Panthers are also expected to have a new, yet familiar face take the ice in forward Cole Schwindt.
Drafted by the Panthers in the third round (81st overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft, the Panthers claimed Schwindt off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.
Included in the trade that landed the Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk in 2022, Schwindt logged 46 NHL games between the Calgary Flames and Golden Knights over the past two seasons.
“It feels, in some ways, I kind of never left,” said Schwindt. “Know a fair amount of guys in the locker room. Don’t know everybody, but it’s nice to come back to a couple of familiar faces, it’s fun.”
Forwards Sam Bennett, Anton Lundell, Brad Marchand, and Sam Reinhart, as well as defenseman Gustav Forsling are not expected to suit up in Saturday’s game.
Leaving Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury, Lundell was back on the ice skating with the team on Saturday.
Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to be in between the pipes, per head coach Paul Maurice.
Tampa Bay’s lineup will be known closer to puck drop, but head coach Jon Cooper did state that goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy will be starting, per reports.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
FORWARDS
Carter Verhaeghe – Eetu Luostarinen – Jack Studnicka
Jesper Boqvist – Evan Rodrigues – Luke Kunin
Jonah Gadjovich – Cole Schwindt – A.J. Greer
Mackie Samoskevich – Tyler Motte – Noah Gregor
DEFENSEMEN
Uvis Balinskis – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Dmitry Kulikov – Jeff Petry
GOALTENDERS
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Saturday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV: WSFL, WHDT, WFTX, **PanthersPlus.TV**
Radio: N/A
