The Florida Panthers are making a few lineup changes as they look to close out the Eastern Conference Final.
There are a few Panthers players who are nursing injuries and as such, are being held out of Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Sam Reinhart, A.J. Greer and Niko Mikkola will all not play on Monday night.
They are each considered day-to-day with their respective injuries, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said.
Reinhart also missed Game 3 on Saturday, and he'll continue to be replaced Jesper Boqvist, who logged a goal and two assists in Florida's 6-2 victory.
Filling in for Greer on the left wing of Florida's fourth line will be Nico Sturm, who can also take faceoffs and contribute on the penalty kill.
On the blueline, Mikkola will be replaced in the lineup by Uvis Balinskis. He'll likely be paired up with Nate Schmidt while Dmitry Kulikov would slide up and take Mikkola's spot beside Seth Jones.
Maurice summed up his thought process into the moves as simply trying to put the best and most competitive team on the ice.
"The determination is, the three guys that I'm playing – obviously Boqvist is already in – but those guys would perform better than those three men would tonight," Maurice said.
A victory on Monday would not only punch Florida's ticket to the Stanley Cup Final, but it would also afford them some time to allow players to heal.
The Final is not expected to begin until at least June 4, possibly later depending how long the Western Conference Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars goes.
Following the changes, here is an updated line and pairing projection for the Panthers head of Game 4:
Evan Rodrigues – Sasha Barkov – Jesper Boqvist
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
Nico Sturm – Tomas Nosek – Jonah Gadjovich
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Dmitry Kulikov – Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt – Uvis Balinskis
Scratches: Mackie Samoskevich, Niko Mikkola, Sam Reinhart, A.J. Greer, Jaycob Megna
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Photo caption: May 24, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola (77) celebrates after a goal during the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes in game three of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images