SUNRISE, Fla. — Defenseman Mike Green was among the last players on the ice during Washington’s optional morning skate, but coach Dale Hunter didn’t dismiss the possibility Green could make his return against the Florida Panthers on Friday night.

“We’re working him right now,” Hunter said while Green was still on the ice. “We’re going to see how it is. Still it’s game time. We could play him on the power play – game-time decision.”

Hunter said the Capitals would dress seven defensemen if Green does play.

Green, who underwent sports hernia surgery on Jan. 17, has appeared in only three games since he had two goals and two assists Oct. 22 in a 7-1 victory over Detroit that gave Washington a 7-0 start on the season.

Alex Ovechkin skipped the optional skate, but Hunter was quick to say there was nothing wrong with his star forward and he would be in the lineup Friday.

Veteran Mike Knuble was among the first group of players off the ice, an indication he could be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the last three games.

Here is Washington’s projected lineup for Friday night against Florida:

Alex Ovechkin - Marcus Johansson - Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera - Mathieu Perreault - Alexander Semin
Matt Hendricks - Brooks Laich - Mike Knuble
Jay Beagle - Jeff Halpern - Joel Ward

Karl Alzner - John Carlson
Jeff Schultz - Dennis Wideman
Roman Hamrlik - Dmitry Orlov

Tomas Vokoun
Michal Neuvirth

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers have regained first place in the Southeast Division thanks to their current three-game winning streak. But they'll be going for a rare feat Wednesday night when they play host to the Ottawa Senators.

A victory would give Florida its first four-game winning streak since March of 2008, when the Panthers won seven in a row in a futile late attempt at a playoff run.

To put in perspective just how long it’s been, the only current Panthers player who was on that team was center Stephen Weiss.

"It would be nice," Weiss said. "Those are where you really make ground up or separate yourself when you can string together five-plus games in a row. That would be huge. But as soon as you start thinking about it, your feet stop moving and your head takes over. We've just got to play as if we've lost three in a row and have that killer instinct and make sure we're ready to go for our first shift and take it from there."

More important than the streak, a victory Wednesday night would increase the Panthers' lead over Washington in the Southeast Division to six points, with a matchup between the teams looming Friday night at the BankAtlantic Center.

"We've got to keep the ball rolling," said center Shawn Matthias, who played four games for the Panthers in 2007-08 but was back in the AHL during the long winning streak. "That was the last time they made a real good push at the end. We're getting near the end here and we've got to keep pushing strong and we need to put a little streak together here to secure ourselves some space between us and the rest of the teams in our division."

In putting together their 27-17-11 record, the team's best 55-game mark since 2000, the Panthers have had three three-game winning streaks, including this one.

The first two ended with overtime losses, against Tampa Bay at home in November and at Buffalo in December.

While Coach Kevin Dineen isn't focusing on the winning streak, he is happy with the way his team has been playing of late.

"We get players that are feeling good about themselves, it makes our job easier," Dineen said. "Our video meeting (Tuesday) morning was really positive and you're able to build up on a lot of things. You're not searching for things, either, it's there and it shows up on the scoreboard and it shows up in their play. There's some positives to keep working on right now."

Dineen said after Wednesday's morning skate he hadn't decided whether to go with Jose Theodore or Scott Clemmensen in net to try to extend the streak.

Theodore returned Sunday after missing eight games with a knee injury and allowed only one goal on 27 shots in a 4-1 victory over the Islanders. Clemmensen, meanwhile, also gave up only one goal in the first two victories of the current winning streak -- against Los Angeles and at New Jersey.

Here is the Panthers' projected lineup for Wednesday night:

Tomas Fleischmann - Stephen Weiss - Kris Versteeg
Sean Bergenheim - Marcel Goc - Mikael Samuelsson
Tomas Kopecky - Shawn Matthias - Mike Santorelli
Jack Skille - John Madden - Matt Bradley

Brian Campbell - Mike Weaver
Keaton Ellerby - Erik Gudbranson
Colby Robak - Tyson Strachan

Jose Theodore
Scott Clemmensen

SUNRISE, Fla. -- As he talked to reporters while most of his players took advantage of an optional morning skate to engage in a friendly soccer competition, Ottawa coach Paul MacLean was asked about the Detroit Red Wings' record 21-game home winning streak.

MacLean is in his first season with the Senators, who take on the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night, after spending the previous six years as an assistant with the Red Wings.

With MacLean helping out Mike Babcock behind the bench, the Red Wings accomplished many things during those six seasons -- including winning the Stanley Cup in 2008 -- but he had to watch this one from the outside.

"It's disappointing ... I guess they haven't missed me," MacLean joked before reflecting on his former organization's latest feat.

"Anytime you can set new recrods for an organization like that that's been around so long and has set so many records, it's a testament to the continuity of the players and the continuity of the whole thing, from Mr. Ilitch (owner Mike Ilitch) all the way down to the training staff. A lot of people have been there a long time, and continuity and loyalty has a lot to do with it."

MacLean, who also spent one of his 11 seasons as an NHL player with the Red Wings (1988-89), said he wasn't surprised by Detroit's success despite an aging roster. The Red Wings sit atop the overall League standings with 80 points.

MacLean was asked how long he thought the Red Wings could remain contenders, and he pointed to seven-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom.

"It's hard to say," MacLean said. "When No. 5 decides not to play anymore, I think there could be a difference in their team at that point because of the element that he brings and the leadership that he brings. It's pretty huge. But they have some other quality people that are there, so who knows? At this point in time, I wouldn't be betting on them taking a nosedive anytime soon."

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Players and coaches have changed over the last two years, but what has remained constant is Ottawa's dominance over the Florida Panthers.

When the teams meet Wednesday at the BankAtlantic Center, the Senators will try to make it nine in a row in the series.

Ottawa already has beaten Florida twice this season at home, a last-minute 4-3 victory Oct. 27 and a 4-3 overtime win Dec. 22.

The streak is tied for third-longest active run by one team against an opponent.

Boston has beaten Edmonton 10 consecutive times; Calgary has nine-game streaks against Edmonton and Colorado; and Vancouver has won its last nine games against Toronto. In addition to Ottawa's run against Florida, Montreal has an eight-game win streak against Phoenix and San Jose has an eight-game win streak against Philadelphia.

Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson was asked whether he could provide an explanation for the dominance.

"No, I can't," he said. "There's been a few different coaches the last few years here. I've been through times where we couldn't buy a win in this building, either. We know they're a feisty team and we're ready for that. We don't expect it to be an easy night and we know we have to put our work boots on to have a chance. We haven't played them here this year and we know they play really well at home. This will be a really tough challenge for us to keep that streak going."

The last time the Panthers beat Ottawa was Jan. 9, 2010, when Tomas Vokoun stopped 24 shots in a 3-0 victory. Rostislav Olesz had two goals and Nathan Horton had the other.

Vokoun now plays for Washington, Horton is with Boston, and Olesz is playing for the Chicago Blackhawks' AHL team.

"You know what? I didn't even know they beat us eight in a row until you told me," said Panthers center Shawn Matthias. "We don't really pay attention to those things. As a player, you don't want to. Obviously, we know they're a very good opponent and we know what has happened this year against them in those two games at their rink. We know we've got to put a full 60 minutes in and if you take any time off against these guys or get in the penalty box, they're deadly."

Craig Anderson was in net for Ottawa for both of the Florida games, and he's enjoyed great success on his own against his former team.

Vokoun's backup in 2008 and 2009, Anderson has faced the Panthers eight times with Colorado and Ottawa in the past three seasons. He's 6-0-1 in those eight games against Florida. His 2.22 goals-against average against the Panthers is more than half a goal better than his career GAA of 2.81.

"It's a building where I've played a lot," Anderson said of BankAtlantic Center. "You get comfortable in a spot where you know you're just going to play well. Hopefully that continues.

"Most of the guys I've played with on this team are no longer here. It's tough to really know the guys. Obviously I know the area, I know the building, I know the fans, but players always change. It's just another game, another two points against a team we need to beat to get into the playoffs."

For Coach Kevin Dineen, the streak is irrelevant.

"It's not something that we really concern ourselves with," he said. "It's really our next game. If you look back historically, there's a lot of changeover in personnel, including our coaching staff. It makes for a very respectful opponent, but certainly we feel that when we play Panthers hockey that we can be a successful team."

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Coming off an impressive 4-0 victory at Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, Ottawa Senators coach Paul MacLean saw no need to make any lineup changes for the back end of the Florida trip Wednesday night.

That means that Craig Anderson, who stopped 28 shots against the Lightning, again will be in net against the Panthers, a team for which he played from 2006-09.

Ottawa will go into the game against Florida with a solid 5-4-3 record in the second of back-to-back games, and the easy victory over Tampa Bay was the perfect setup.

"For back-to-back games, I'm not sure it could have been better, the way things went for us, having a lead and being able to play everybody and not chasing the game," MacLean said. "We were ahead the whole game and we were able to manage minutes way better than if you were chasing the game. Tonight our expectation is that we should be up and running and ready to go."

The Senators have been up and running since a seven-game losing streak where they managed one goal or less five times. Ottawa is 2-0-1 in its last three, with a victory over Nashville and an overtime loss against Edmonton.

In those three games, the Senators scored 11 goals, two more than during their losing streak.

"We've talked about it," captain Daniel Alfredsson said. "We've always struggled getting off to good starts. We've been doing that the last few games. We're up and the other team has to go a little bit more on offense and that opens up more chances. So getting that first goal is a big reason why."

The Senators will try to wrap up a memorable father-son trip against the Panthers. MacLean invited the fathers into the locker room for his pregame speech Tuesday night, but he wasn't sure whether he'd do it again on Wednesday.

One of those parents on the trip is Mike Foligno, father of Nick Foligno and a longtime NHL player. Mike Foligno's 14-year career, incidentally, ended with a 39-game stint with the Panthers in their inaugural season in 1993-94.

"I just thought it was a great opportunity for the dads to really see what their sons have to go through when it comes to gettting prepared for a game and the detail that goes into it," MacLean said. "It's not just put your skates on and tape the stick and go out and play. There's a lot more work involved in the preparation part of playing in the National Hockey League."

Alfredsson said preparation could make the difference against the Panthers.

"We know that we're not a superstar team where we can go on three out of six cylinders and win," he said. "We have to fire on five or six to win games, and then really pay attention to details. Playing last night as well, it's even more important when it's back-to-back games. Mentally, our focus has to be really good for us to have a chance to win."

Here is Ottawa's projected lineup:

Milan Michalek - Jason Spezza - Bobby Butler
Colin Greening - Kyle Turris - Daniel Alfredsson
Kaspars Daugavins - Zack Smith - Erik Condra
Nick Foligno - Jim O'Brien - Chris Neil

Filip Kuba - Erik Karlsson
Chris Phillips - Sergei Gonchar
Jared Cowen - Brian Lee

Craig Anderson
Alex Auld

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Florida Panthers defenseman Tyson Strachan's memorable week got even better on Wednesday.

Three days after scoring his first NHL goal in his 75th career game, the 27-year-old Strachan signed a one-year contract extension. And for the first time in his career, it's a one-way deal.

Asked after Florida's morning skate Wednesday whether his week could get any better, Strachan replied: "I didn't buy my lottery ticket, so I don't think so. It's been a huge week. I get a huge goal and that's obviously a huge, exciting moment for me, and then to get the phone call a couple of days ago about a contract and get everything worked out there and just know that they're thinking of me in the plans for the future is an exciting thing for me.

"I'm just excited. That's about the only word that describes it. I'm excited to be part of it and excited to keep moving forward and to get some wins down the stretch."

Strachan, who played 67 games for the St. Louis Blues over the past three seasons, signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Panthers last July. He was recalled in January when injuries starting hitting the Florida blue line.

In eight games with the Panthers, Strachan has 1 goal and 2 assists along with a plus-3 ratio.

"It's deserved," Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. "Tyson Strachan has proven in the last couple of weeks that he certainly doesn't look uncomfortable out there at the NHL level. He has some experience. He's played in a quality organization in St. Louis and has come in here and played in the minors and when the opportunity arose he was certainly prepared for it. Well-deserved contract extension for Tyson Strachan."

Florida will face Ottawa on Wednesday night without regular defensemen Ed Jovanovski (hand), Dmitry Kulikov (knee) and Jason Garrison (lower body). In addition to Strachan, the Panthers also will have recent call-up Colby Robak in the lineup.

Robak played 14:40 in his NHL debut in Sunday's 4-1 victory over the Islanders and finished a plus-2.

"I thought he was fine," Dineen said. "I thought he looked comfortable out there. I thought he responded to a lot of the Islanders' pressure well."

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers will be without Jason Garrison, who leads all NHL defensemen with 13 goals, for the next 7-10 days due to a lower-body injury.

Garrison was injured in the second period of Saturday's 3-1 victory at New Jersey

In addition to his 13 goals, Garrison is second on the team in average ice time at 23:33, and his plus-6 is the second-best mark on the team, and tops among Panthers blueliners.

"Big hole in our lineup," coach Kevin Dineen said after practice Tuesday. "He's played a great level of hockey and he'll be missed in the next week."

Garrison becomes the third Panthers defenseman to be sidelined by injury, joining Ed Jovanovski and Dmitry Kulikov.

Kulikov, who underwent knee surgery Jan. 24, is expected to be out for at least another couple of weeks, but Jovanovski could be close to returning. He had surgery on his hand Jan. 18, two days after being involved in a fight with Boston's Daniel Paille. Jovanovski took part in Tuesday's practice.

"Jovo has taken some good strides," Dineen said. "Now he's progressing to handling the puck and using his stick, which he hasn't done, but he's kept his conditioning up. Believe me, he will want to be back sooner than he's ready. He is very enthusiastic about getting back in the lineup, but that final decision will be made by our medical staff."

With the injuries on the blue line, Florida recently recalled Tyson Strachan and Colby Robak from San Antonio of the AHL.

Strachan, who had appeared in 67 games for St. Louis over the past three seasons, scored his first NHL goal in Sunday’s 4-1 victory against the Islanders; it was the same day Robak, a 2008 second-round pick, made his NHL debut.

SUNRISE, Fla. — Kings coach Darryl Sutter began watching tape of the Dec. 1 game between Los Angeles and the Florida Panthers to get ready for the rematch Thursday at the BankAtlantic Center, but it didn’t take him long to realize it was useless.

“When I started doing it,” Sutter said Thursday morning in the midst of a six-game road trip, “I said, you know what, this is not going to serve much.”

The logo will be the same, but it’s a much different Florida team that the Kings will face this time. Eight players who will be in the lineup for the Panthers on Thursday night didn’t play in that 2-1 Kings victory in December, a list headed by leading scorer Kris Versteeg.

Versteeg was out after taking an elbow in the face two nights earlier in Carolina, and it was one of only two games he has missed all season.

But he’ll be there Thursday night playing between linemates Tomas Fleischmann and Stephen Weiss, and it’s a trio that has earned the respect of Sutter.

“The big thing with these guys and I know them good enough, their big line is the best line we’ve played on the trip,” Sutter said. “When you break it down, center-left-right, it’s the best line we’ve played. From an individual standpoint we’ve probably played guys you think are more top players than they are, but this is the first time we’ve played a line that when they’re spread out ... they’re a 50-goal line already. In this league, that’s pretty significant. And when you’ve got (Brian) Campbell at almost 40 points and you’ve got Jason (Garrison) with 13 goals, you’ve got your hands full. That’s how I look at it.”

Along with Versteeg, the other Panthers players who will suit up Thursday night after not playing in the Dec. 1 game are forwards Mikael Samuelsson, Marcel Goc, Krys Barch, Matt Bradley and John Madden, along with defensemen Keaton Ellerby and Tyson Strachan.

Four of the eight players who played on Dec. 1 but won’t be playing Thursday night are injured and the other four are in the minors.

Even though he wants a different outcome, Panthers coach Kevin Dineen gladly would take a similar effort from his team than what he got against the Kings two months ago.

Florida outshot Los Angeles 42-26 in that game, but lost on goals by Jack Johnson and Dustin Brown and strong goaltending by Jonathan Quick.

“I thought that was one of our strongest games,” Dineen said. “We played a very well-rounded game and we ended up with no points. Sometimes you walk out of those losses and you go, that was a hard-fought game and it doesn’t end up in your favor. That’s the kind of hockey we’re looking to get back to.”

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Los Angeles Kings will enter Thursday night in seventh place in the Western Conference standings when they face the Florida Panthers at BankAtlantic Center. It’s not all that bad considering the Kings are dead last in the entire League in goals.

“At the end of the day, right now we’re in a playoff spot,” said captain Dustin Brown. “Regardless of our scoring, that’s all that really matters for this team. Do we want to get better at our scoring? Yeah. I think a lot of guys are frustrated in here with the type of scoring, or lack thereof, that we have with this team.

“At the end of the day we’re capable of winning games 1-0 and 2-1 because of the way we play defense. Again, we’ve got to find ways to score more goals but we’re also capable of winning games without scoring many.”

That’s precisely what happened when the Kings faced the Panthers on Dec. 1 at Staples Center. That night, Los Angeles was able to pull out a 2-1 victory despite being outshot 42-26.

The Kings, who will be playing the fourth game in a season-long six-game road trip Thursday night, are coming off a 3-1 victory at Tampa Bay. It was only the 19th time in 54 games this season that Los Angeles had scored more than two goals.

“Hockey is a funny game,” Brown said. “It’s a confidence thing. If you look around at the numbers of the guys in this room, they’re probably having statistically one of their worst years. I’ve never been on a team where you see it happen to such a big number of big guys that are having down years.”

The two biggest disappointments in terms of goal-scoring this season have been second-line wingers Dustin Penner and Jarret Stoll.

Penner scored at least 23 goals four of the last five seasons but has only five goals in 42 games so far. Stoll has five goals in 54 games after finishing with 20 last season.

The center on that line is Mike Richards, who will be playing in his 500th NHL game Thursday night. The former Flyers captain, who scored 11 goals in 13 games in November and December but has only one tally in his last 19 outings, says the victory at Tampa Bay was a good example of how the Kings can have success without putting up big numbers.

“We’re not going to be a team that just throws our sticks on the ice and gets two or three,” Richards said. “We’ve got to go out there and earn it. But at the same time, we’ve got to make the other team work hard and get pressure by our checking and how hard we work. We know our identity. Obviously we’d like to score more goals. Everyone does. But our biggest focus is keeping the puck out of the net and then moving forward.”

Here is the projected lineup for the Kings when they face Florida on Thursday night:

Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams
Dustin Penner - Mike Richards - Jarret Stoll
Brad Richardson - Colin Fraser - Trent Hunter
Kyle Clifford - Andrei Loktionov - Trevor Lewis

Rob Scuderi - Drew Doughty
Jack Johnson - Willie Mitchell
Alec Martinez - Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Jonathan Bernier

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers' goaltending situation is getting muddled as players get healthy again.

Jose Theodore and Jacob Markstrom, who both have been out with knee injuries, joined Scott Clemmensen when the Panthers held their morning skate in preparation for Thursday night's game against Los Angeles.

Another positive sign came Wednesday when Brian Foster, who backed up Clemmensen the last four games, was sent back to San Antonio of the AHL.

“We went from a goaltending issue to we’ve got a bit of a glut out there today," coach Kevin Dineen said. "No complaints from the coaching staff for us organizationally. It's nice for us to have a number of options for tonight’s game."

Clemmensen is expected to make a seventh consecutive start against Los Angeles, but Dineen didn't rule out the possibility of Theodore starting.

The former Vezina and Hart Trophy winner hasn't played since Jan. 20 in a 3-1 loss at Chicago. He initially was injured in a 3-2 victory over Montreal on New Year's Eve and returned Jan. 18 to start at Colorado in a game the Panthers lost 4-3 in overtime.

"I'm not going to break him in slowly," Dineen said. "As soon as he deems himself fit, and this morning's skate is a good, positive step for him, then he is a legitimate option to play tonight."

After a tremendous nine-game stretch where he was 5-1-3 with a 2.13 goals-against average and .935 save percentage, Clemmensen struggled in Florida's last two games. He gave up five goals on 32 shots in Saturday's 6-3 loss at Tampa Bay and then gave up four goals on 24 shots Tuesday in a 4-0 loss at Washington.

For the season, Clemmensen is 8-4-5 with a 2.80 GAA and a .908 save percentage, while Theodore is 14-9-5 with a 2.50 GAA and a .916 save percentage.

"He has been good this year and he'll continue to play an important role in our season," Dineen said of Theodore. "You can sit there, you can fiddle around, but goaltending is a key position in our League. A goaltender that comes in and makes that big, timely save is a real difference-maker. He did that on numerous occasions early in the season."

Markstrom, meanwhile, is still recovering from knee surgery, his second over the past year. He likely will be sent to San Antonio once he's ready to play.

"I'm just taking it day by day and trying to get back," Markstrom said. "You want to get back and play. It's never fun to watch your buddies play, so you always want to get back as fast as possible but you don't want a setback and you don't want to rush it. So you take it day by day, and hopefully I’ll be back playing soon."

Here's the Panthers' projected lineup:

Tomas Fleischmann - Stephen Weiss - Kris Versteeg
Sean Bergenheim - Marcel Goc - Mikael Samuelsson
Tomas Kopecky - Shawn Matthias - Mike Santorelli
Krystofer Barch - John Madden - Matt Bradley

Jason Garrison - Mike Weaver
Brian Campbell - Erik Gudbranson
Keaton Ellerby - Tyson Strachan

Scott Clemmensen
Jose Theodore