The Florida Panthers will again be without Evan Rodrigues tonight when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes — but second-line center Sam Bennett will not play, either.
Rodrigues has been out since blocking a shot in the final minute of the second period Saturday against the Calgary Flames.
Bennett also blocked a shot during Tuesday night’s come-from-behind win against the host Dallas Stars.
Coach Paul Maurice said both are being held out for precautionary reasons.
Jonah Gadjovich returns to the lineup for the first time since the win in New Jersey on March 4. Anton Lundell slides up to center the second line; Eetu Luostarinen will center the third.
“It is day-to-day and we will re-evaluate them for the Tampa game,” Maurice said.
The Panthers come into the game with wins in their past two, eight of nine and 18 of the past 21.
Carolina pulled out a 1-0 win against the Panthers in an epic defensive battle back on Feb. 22 with Sebastian Aho scoring with 18.9 seconds remaining.
The Hurricanes have gone 5-4-1 since beating the Panthers. Tonight, they have deadline additions Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
“I think we put up 45 (shots) on them but ended up with zeroes,” Maurice said. “Both goalies were really, really good. There was a break at the end of the game … I was really happy with our game. We hope to continue that tonight.”
The starting goalies: Sergei Bobrovsky vs. Frederik Andersen.
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