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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
Senators projected lineup
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.