Panthers Set To Face Penguins at Home After Long Road Trip

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. —The Florida Panthers are back home after a disappointing road trip, which saw them drop four straight games before finally getting in the win column on Tuesday night in Boston.

[It was] a long road trip,” Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said. “We finished it off the right way with a nice win in Boston there. We want to just play a full sixty-minute game tonight in front of our fans — try to use some of that energy to bring our game back to where it needs to be.”

On Thursday night, the Panthers (4-4-0) — who are undefeated at home to start the season (3-0-0) — will host the Pittsburgh Penguins (5-2-0) at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise.

Returning home after an extended trip, especially an unsuccessful one, can often be the reset a team needs. There’s little doubt Florida would be ecstatic if they can step right back into the same shape they did before heading on the road. Yet, head coach Paul Maurice made it clear he doesn’t want the results of his team’s game to rely on whether they are playing on home ice, or away from it.

“We don’t have a different feel — up until last week — of home and road [games], we had lots of confidence playing on the road and an equal amount of confidence playing at home,” Maurice said. “But the key is not thinking that you’re home [so] this is somehow going to be easy. That there is a shift.

”I don’t want that, I don’t want that feeling — a difference at home. You should get energy from the fans. Not need it, or expect it, coming to the rink.”

Sergei Bobrovsky will get his seventh start of the season (4-2-0) for the Panthers. On the other side, Tristan Jarry is set for his fourth start (2-1-0) for Pittsburgh.

Florida is expected to roll out the same lineup they did last game in Boston.

As for updates on forward Noah Gregor and defenseman Donovan Sebrango, both players are still waiting for visas, per Maurice. Gregor has been with the team and skating (since preseason), while Sebrango — who was claimed off waivers from Ottawa on Oct 15 — has not been on the ice with Florida.

Puck drop is 7 p.m. ET from Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL. 

Projected Panthers Lines 

Verhaeghe-Bennett-Reinhart

Luostarinen-Lundell-Marchand

Boqvist-Rodrigues-Samoskevich

Greer-Kunin-Gadjovich

Forsling-Ekblad

Mikkola-Jones

Balinskis-Petry

Bobrovsky (Starter)

Tarasov