Panthers road trip continues against hungry Blue Jackets as both teams aim to escape funks

Oct 15, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins (90) makes a save on the shot from Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) during the first period at Nationwide Arena. (Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images)

The Florida Panthers are back on the road.

After a nice pit stop in South Florida, the Panthers are now in Ohio, set to resume their six-game road trip against the playoff hopeful Columbus Blue Jackets.

Florida arrives looking to turn things around following a rough start to their roadie.

The Panthers have lost three of four during the trip, coming off back-to-back losses to the Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders.

They’ll also be playing without defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, who joins Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand on the injured list after suffering an upper-body injury against the Islanders that has him designated week-to-week.

Despite missing several of their key players – Aaron Ekblad is also out until the playoffs – Florida must find a way to keep reeling in the points or risk dropping down in a suddenly very competitive Atlantic Division.

Entering play Thursday, the Panthers are tied for first in the Atlantic with the Toronto Maple Leafs, each holding 85 points and a two-point lead over third-place Tampa Bay.

As for Columbus, they have 70 points in the standings, as do the Islanders and Detroit Red Wings.

That puts each team three points behind Montreal for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, with the New York Rangers also in the mix, one point behind the Canadiens.

As recently as the beginning of March, the Blue Jackets were holding the top Wild Card spot, four points clear of the playoff line of demarcation.

Since then, Columbus has gone just 1-6-0 and in those six defeats, the Blue Jackets have scored six total goals.

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Thursday's clash in Columbus:

Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Evan Rodrigues

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist

A.J. Greer – Nico Sturm – Tomas Nosek

Gus Forsling – Seth Jones

Niko Mikkola – Tobias Bjornfot

Nate Schmidt – Uvis Balinskis

Scratches: Jonah Gadjovich, Brad Marchand, Dmitry Kulikov

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