Panthers at Canucks preview

PANTHERS (17-18-8) at CANUCKS (20-21-5)
7 p.m. ET; SN, FS-F, NHL.TV

Bjugstad, who has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 27 games this season, has been out since Dec. 6. He returns on a top line with Aleksander Barkov and Evgenii Dadonov.
The Canucks have lost three straight (0-2-1) after going 9-3-1 in their previous 13. They've been shut out three times in their past five games.

Players to watch

Panthers center Aleksander Barkov has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in his past 10 games.
Canucks center Bo Horvat has two assists in his past eight games after getting nine points (five goals, four assists) in his previous eight.

They said it

"It's understandable that people are curious but to be honest with you I don't know myself. I don't have an answer. I'd like to play as long as possible. I still love playing the game. Right now, I am going through a little bit of a tough time, so it has been a little tougher, but once I get out of it I'll be back to where I need to be, and it will be fun again." -- Florida Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo
"He wants to play. We want him to play. But we're not going to rush him back and have him play where he's at risk because he's not moving around well enough. We're going to do right by him." -- Canucks coach Travis Green on injured forward Elias Pettersson

Panthers projected lineup

Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Nick Bjugstad
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Henrik Borgstrom -- Mike Hoffman
Frank Vatrano -- Jared McCann -- Denis Malgin
Micheal Haley -- Colton Sceviour -- Troy Brouwer
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
Bogdan Kiselevich -- MacKenzie Weegar
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched: Jayce Hawryluk Ian McCoshen, Juho Lammikko
Injured: Derek MacKenzie (upper body), Vincent Trocheck (ankle)

Canucks projected lineup

Sven Baertschi -- Bo Horvat -- Brock Boeser
Nikolay Goldobin -- Markus Granlund -- Josh Leivo
Antoine Roussel -- Brandon Sutter -- Jake Virtanen
Loui Eriksson -- Jay Beagle -- Tyler Motte
Alexander Edler -- Chris Tanev
Ben Hutton -- Troy Stecher
Derrick Pouliot -- Erik Gudbranson
Jacob Markstrom
Thatcher Demko
Scratched:Tim Schaller, Alex Biega, Michael Del Zotto
Injured:Elias Pettersson (knee)

Status report

Florida did not skate after playing back-to-back games Thursday and Friday. … Pettersson could return against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. He skated Friday and Saturday for the first time since spraining his right knee Jan. 3. … Leivo, who missed three games with back spasms, is likely to return. Forward Adam Gaudette was assigned to Utica of the American Hockey League. … Green would not discuss the starting goalie Saturday and the Canucks did not skate Sunday, so Demko could play his first NHL game this season and second of his career after being called up from Utica on Friday.

Stat pack

Hoffman has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past 10 games. … Boeser has two assists in his past five games.