We'll start with what head coach Guy Boucher said following today's short skate in Sunrise as his line-up isn't expected to be finalized until closer to puck drop.
"I'm going to decide after warm-up," he said. "I'm just waiting to see a few things."
Boucher didn't really eloborate on that too much but stated that everyone who is on the trip is eligible to play tonight. With Mark Stone remaining in Ottawa (more on that in a bit), the Sens only have an extra defenceman on the road so it's possible that Erik Burgdoerfer could check into the line-up. In place of who? No clue. If he is active tonight, Burgdoerfer could either replace one of the Sens' other 6 defenders or the coach could deploy 11 forwards and 7 defencemen but either way, we won't know until after warm-up.
As Boucher tinkers with his game roster, he's also quite aware of what tonight's opponent brings. The Panthers are looking for their ninth consecutive win at BB&T Center as they remain in the mix for one of two wildcard spots in the East.
"They're the hottest team in the NHL right now," said Boucher. "They've gotten their goalie back also which makes a huge difference for them. They're 8-1-1 in their last 10 and you look at video and they're firing on all cylinders, they've got lots of intensity and lots of drive. They've got two 60-pointers on their second line and not a lot of teams have that."
We mentioned Mark Stone's recent injury in today's
Game Day 5
but the coach expanded on it slightly during his media availability today. While Stone' exact diagnosis is to be determined sometime over the next day or so, Boucher shared that it is "not a knee issue" which is good news considering Stone missed 9 games a little over a month ago with a knee injury.
