Florida Panthers make lineup changes — again — for ‘do-or-die’ Game 2 against Islanders
The Florida Panthers felt the pressure going into Game 2 of their best-of-5 series against the New York Islanders Tuesday in Toronto. A Game 1 loss to the Islanders quickly put the Panthers two games from elimination in the expanded postseason.
“The game tomorrow is really our do-or-die,” Mike Hoffman said Monday.
Heading into the five-game series, Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said flexibility, and finding the balance between patience and urgency would be critical to advancing into the traditional 16-team Stanley Cup playoffs. The coach made one major lineup haul between Florida’s exhibition and Game 1 on Saturday. On Tuesday, he changed up his lineup once again.
Quenneville stuck with the top-line grouping of All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau, center Aleksander Barkov and winger Evgenii Dadonov, but tinkered with the rest of the offensive lineup.
Center Aleksi Saarela, who played just nine NHL games in the regular season, was the biggest addition. The rookie started at left wing on the second line with Hoffman at right wing and forward Erik Haula at center.
With the lineup change, forward Brian Boyle moved up from fourth-line center to third-line center. Frank Vatrano started at third-line left wing and fellow winger Brett Connolly manned the right side.
Center Noel Acciari, who was the second-line right wing in Game 1, moved back to the fourth line to play his natural position. Winger Colton Sceviour played the left side next to Acciari, and converted defenseman Mark Pysyk continued to play right wing.,
Center Lucas Wallmark, who was a surprise scratch for Game 1, missed his second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury. Forward Dominic Toninato, who was the third-line center in Game 1, was a healthy scratch, as were center Eetu Luostarinen, left wing Dryden Hunt and right wing Owen Tippett.
Florida Panthers make defensive changes
Sergei Bobrovsky was happy with the way his defense played in front of him Saturday. Still, the Panthers made some changes there, most notably adding Brady Keeper in place of fellow defenseman Riley Stillman on the second defensive pairing.
Keeper, who has played just one NHL game, impressed Florida throughout postseason training camp last month in Coral Springs and played well in the Panthers’ exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday before Quenneville scratched him for Game 1. On Tuesday, he started on the second pairing with fellow defenseman Anton Stralman.
Defensemen Josh Brown and Chase Priskie were also scratched, as were goaltenders Philippe Desrosiers and Sam Montembeault.
Bobrovsky ‘likely’ for Game 3
It’s not uncommon for coaches to play two different goaltenders on both ends of a back-to-back, but Quenneville said he will “likely” stick with Bobrovsky in net for Florida’s must-win Game 3 against New York at noon on Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena.
“We’ll talk about it,” Quenneville said, “but very likely.”
Bobrovsky has been good in net so far for the Panthers in the expanded postseason. Through two games, the two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender has made 56 saves with a .903 save percentage and 3.00 goals against average. Three of the six goals he has conceded so far have come on power plays.
While rookie goaltender Chris Driedger put up better numbers than Bobrovsky in fewer starts in the regular season, Bobrovsky has played well enough to justify Quenneville sticking with him even with the short turnaround.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 12:10 PM.
