The Florida Panthers will again be without captain Sasha Barkov tonight when they visit the New York Rangers in a nationally-televised game on ABC.
Coach Paul Maurice said Friday that he welcomed a little adversity within his ranks — and, even shorthanded, he wants to see a quick start at Madison Square Garden as the Panthers attempt to snap a three-game losing streak.
Florida is 3-3-1 without Barkov in the lineup this season.
“We need that challenge, we’re a little undermanned” Maurice said after his team’s morning skate at Chelsea Piers in midtown Manhattan. “That is the adversity you get in the NHL now. We have lost a lot of games here, so we feel that pressure, too. I am expecting us to come some pretty good fight tonight.”
Florida kicks off a rough back-to-back tonight with the Panthers playing in Philadelphia on Sunday night.
Maurice mixed up the lines for Friday’s practice after putting them through a blender during Thursday’s 3-0 loss to the Predators.
Florida will have a new look tonight.
Ryan Lomberg and Jonah Gadjovich will not play — it will be the first time Lomberg has been scratched in two seasons — with Steven Lorentz getting back in for the first time since Feb. 24. He will center the third line.
Lorentz has been scratched in 22 of Florida’s past 23 games.
“I felt guilty about taking him out because he had not done anything to deserve it,” Maurice said. “When a guy’s game isn’t there, you don’t feel bad about taking them out because you know you can get them better, right? Get their attention a little bit, have a reset. But Steve did not deserve to come out of the lineup. He was playing some of his best hockey at the time.’’
Kyle Okposo will also play tonight. He has been scratched in three of his first five games since joining the Panthers at the NHL Trade Deadline.
“We have a bunch of guys either dealing with something or coming off of something,” Maurice said. “This is the perfect time to get some players who are healthy into the lineup. I want all of these guys to have played a game within the last 10 before the playoffs start. It is an opportunity for those guys to go in — and they don’t have to come out, either. They can go in and earn a job, and keep it. They need reps so we have some healthy bodies.”
The starting goalies: Igor Shesterkin goes against Sergei Bobrovsky.
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