Panthers at Senators preview

PANTHERS (36-27-7) at SENATORS (26-34-11)
7:30 p.m. ET; TSN5, RDS, FS-F, NHL.TV

The Panthers trail the New Jersey Devils by three points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, but have played two fewer games.
The Panthers trail the New Jersey Devils by three points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, but have played two fewer games.
Goalie James Reimer is expected to start for Florida after Roberto Luongo made 28 saves in a 2-0 win at the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.
Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson, who missed practice Monday because of illness, will not play for family reasons.

Players to watch

Panthers forward Evgenii Dadonov has 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in his past 18 games.
Senators goaltender Craig Anderson is 4-0-1 with a 2.70 goals-against average in his past five starts.

They said it

"When you beat good teams, you get that confidence. … Our goalies are outstanding, standing on their heads and giving us a chance to win. The puck's been going in the net and it's just a fun time right now." -- Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov
"Missing our best players doesn't help, but it gives a chance to some of the guys to step up. A new guy, a new defenseman and [Filip Chlapik] to come and fill out their shoes, they're big shoes to fill, but they'll do the best they can to help us." -- Senators forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Panthers projected lineup

Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Nick Bjugstad
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Vincent Trocheck -- Denis Malgin
Maxim Mamin -- Jared McCann -- Frank Vatrano
Jamie McGinn -- Derek MacKenzie -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
Alexander Petrovic -- MacKenzie Weegar
James Reimer
Roberto Luongo
Scratched:Micheal Haley, Connor Brickley, Radim Vrbata, Ian McCoshen
Injured:None

Senators projected lineup

Zack Smith -- Matt Duchene -- Mike Hoffman
Magnus Paajarvi -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Tom Pyatt
Bobby Ryan --
Filip Chlapik
-- Marian Gaborik
Max McCormick --
Jim O'Brien
-- Alexandre Burrows
Thomas Chabot -- Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki -- Ben Harpur
Patrick Sieloff
-- Fredrik Claesson
Craig Anderson
Mike Condon
Scratched:Erik Karlsson
Injured:Ryan Dzingel (head), Mark Stone (leg), Chris Wideman (hamstring)

Status report

Dzingel wore a non-contact jersey during the morning skate and could play Thursday. Sieloff and O'Brien were recalled from Belleville of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

The Panthers are 10-2-1 in their past 13 games and have allowed two goals or fewer in nine of them.