Panthers lineup tonight: Florida’s projected lineup for Game 4 against Tampa Bay Lightning

By Umesh KumarSports

The Florida Panthers will continue their playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning today. It’s the all-important Game 4 tonight, and Florida is looking to cement a dominant 3-1 lead. The Lightning are attempting to tie the series and avoid the dreaded 3-1 hole.

Per ESPN, Florida has no injuries. It will also be with Matthew Tkachuk, who narrowly avoids major punishment from the league for a brutal hit on Jake Guentzel in the waning moments of Game 3. Florida will have its full complement of players.

With that in mind, here’s the projected lineup for tonight’s contest. Keep in mind that it can change ahead of puck drop tonight at 7 p.m. EDT:

Forwards:

  1. LW Carter Verhaeghe – C Aleksander Barkov – RW Sam Reinhart
  2. LW Mackie Samoskevich – C Sam Bennett – RW Matthew Tkachuk
  3. LW Eetu Luostarinen – C Anton Lundell – RW Brad Marchand
  4. LW Jesper Boqvist – C Nico Sturm – RW Evan Rodrigues

Defensive Pairs:

  1. Gustav Forsling – Seth Jones
  2. Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
  3. Uvis Balinskis – Nate Schmidt

Goaltenders:

  1. Sergei Bobrovsky
  2. Vitek Vanecek

Powerplay Units:

  1. Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Mackie Samoskevich, Seth Jones
  2. Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, Evan Rodrigues, Nate Schmidt

Penalty Kill Lines:

  1. Evan Rodrigues, Jonah Gadjovich, Gustav Forsling, Seth Jones
  2. Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Niko Mikkola, Dmitry Kulikov

Florida is coming off a 5-1 loss at home.

Odds for tonight’s Panthers game and a look at the upcoming schedule

The Florida Panthers are favored to take a 3-1 series lead tonight at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Here are the full odds from Odds Shark:

  • Florida is -135 on the moneyline.
  • Tampa Bay is +114 to win outright.
  • The puck line is Florida -1, which is +190.
  • The Lightning are -182 to cover.
  • The total is 5.5 goals.
  • The over is -115, and the under is -105.

After today, the Panthers have at least one more game. If they win tonight, then they’ll be able to end the series at home in Game 5 on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

The Florida Panthers are favored to win (Imagn)
The Florida Panthers are favored to win (Imagn)

If they lose, they will have to play a sixth game. That is scheduled for May 2, and a theoretical Game 7, if it’s needed, would be on May 4.