Panthers lineup tonight: Florida's projected lineup for game against New York Rangers | Oct 24, 2024

On Thursday, the Florida Panthers will look to bounce back from a home loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday during the NHL's Frozen Frenzy. After winning the Stanley Cup last season, the Panthers entered this year with high hopes of becoming back-to-back as Stanley Cup champions.

However, they will face off on Thursday night with arguably the best team in the NHL this season, the New York Rangers, who currently top the NHL's Metropolitan Division.

Ahead of the puck drop, the Panthers have several players on the injury report, with Tomas Nosek and Justin Sourdif both on injured reserve. In addition, Alexander Barkov is sidelined with a lower-body injury but will return to action on Nov. 1 when the Panthers play the Dallas Stars.

In addition, Jonah Gadjovich is expected to miss Thursday night's game while still listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury sustained in the preseason.

With that in mind, let's take a look at Florida's lines for Thursday night's game:

Forwards:

1. LW Eetu Luostarinen - C Anton Lundell - RW Sam Reinhart
2. LW Carter Verhaeghe - C Sam Bennett - RW Matthew Tkachuk
3. LW Evan Rodrigues - C Jesper Boqvist - RW Mackie Samoskevich
4. LW AJ Greer - C Patrick Giles - RW Uvis Balinskis

Defensive pairings:

1. Gustav Forsling - Aaron Ekblad
2. Niko Mikkola - Dmitry Kulikov
3. Nate Schmidt - Adam Boqvist

Goalies:

• Sergei Bobrovsky
• Spencer Knight

Powerplay:

1. Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, Adam Boqvist, Carter Verhaeghe
2. Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell, Evan Rodrigues, Aaron Ekblad, Uvis Balinskis

Penalty Kill:

1. Adam Boqvist, Sam Reinhart, Gustav Forsling, Aaron Ekblad
2. Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Niko Mikkola, Dmitry Kulikov

Looking at the Florida Panthers' start to the 2024-25 season after winning first championship in franchise history

After winning their first championship in franchise history, the Florida Panthers underwent a slight roster overhaul this summer in anticipation of the 2024-25 season.

Since the start of the year, the defending champs have posted a 4-3-1 record sitting atop the Atlantic Division, just one point ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs, who all have eight points.

In their season opener, the Panthers got off to a hot start, beating the Boston Bruins at home before hitting the road for a four-game stretch that saw them go 2–2, losing two straight to the Senators and Sabres before bouncing back with two straight wins over the Bruins and the Blue Jackets.

Since then, the team has struggled to find consistency, losing an Oct. 17 game to the visiting Vancouver Canucks in OT before then defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in overtime on Saturday.

Most recently, the team lost a lopsided game at home to the Minnesota Wild 5–1, marking their third loss this season.

Now, with a highly-anticipated Eastern Conference finals rematch against the New York Rangers, the defending champ will look to return to the win column.