The Florida Panthers are back home tonight, playing host to the Los Angeles Kings in Sunrise.
The Panthers have not played at home since Dec. 7, going 3-1 on their four-game road trip.
Florida ended its six-game homestand with wins over Columbus and the Islanders.
The big news coming out of morning skate Wednesday was coach Paul Maurice saying defenseman Gus Forsling is fine after leaving Monday’s win in Tampa after blocking a shot with his arm.
Although Forsling did not participate in Wednesday’s morning skate, he is expected to rejoin Aaron Ekblad on Florida’s top defensive pairing.
NOTEBOOK: KINGS AT PANTHERS
The second episode of the NHL Road to the Winter Classic will air tonight at 6:30 on TNT. The episode starts with Matthew Tkachuk hosting his podcast, and follows the Panthers to Utah and Colorado. The Rangers are represented by Matt Rempe and former Florida forward Vincent Trocheck.
Starting Goalies: Daniil Tarasov returns for the first time since the loss in Colorado. The Kings will go with Anton Forsberg who takes over the starting net with Darcy Kuemper out after being knocked out of Monday’s game in Dallas.
How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are on local TV tonight. The game can be streamed at Panthers+ and ESPN+.
NHL Betting Odds: The Panthers are favorites (-145) on the money line at the local book. To win with the Panthers, a $145 bet pays $100.
ON DECK: GAME No. 33
LOS ANGELES KINGS at FLORIDA PANTHERSÂ
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (17-13-2) LINES
27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 13 Sam Reinhart
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 63 Brad MarchandÂ
10 A.J. Greer // 17 Evan Rodrigues // 11 Mackie Samoskevich
70 Jesper Boqvist // 71 Luke Kunin // 18 Noah Gregor
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
77 Niko Mikkola // 3 Seth Jones
26 Uvis Balinskis // 2 Jeff Petry
40 Daniil Tarasov
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Jack Studnicka, Donovan Sebrango
Injured: Sasha Barkov (knee), Matthew Tkachuk (lower body), Tomas Nosek (knee), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Cole Schwindt (broken arm)
PROJECTED LOS ANGELES KINGS (14-9-9) LINES
14 Alex Laferriere // 11 Anze Kopitar // 9 Adrian Kempe
22 Kevin Fiala // 55 Quinton Byfield // 40 Joel Armia
37 Warren Foegele // 15 Alex Turcotte // 12 Trevor Moore
96 Andrei Kuzmenko // 39 Jeff Malott // 10 Corey Perry
44 Mikey Anderson // 8 Drew Doughty
6 Joel Edmundson // 92 Brandt Clarke
2 Brian Dumoulin // 5 Cody Ceci
31 Anton Forsberg
29 Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Jacob Moverare, Samuel Helenius
Injured: Darcy Kuemper (upper body), Phillip Danault (illness)
