Inking a one-year contract with the Panthers on March 1, Lindbohm, who had been playing with Jokerit in the KHL, last played in the NHL during the 2016-17 season with St. Louis. In 40 career games with the Blues over parts of three seasons, he posted two goals, one assist and 50 hits.
Now back in the NHL, he'll be paired with Brandon Montour on Florida's third pairing tonight.
"It's been a long time," Lindbohm said. "It feels good. We've got a really great group of guys here. It's been nice to have a couple practices with the team. I'm excited and ready to go."
At 6-foot-3 and 198 pounds, Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette, who saw quite a bit of Lindbohm during his days working as both a hockey executive and coach with the Wild, said that he's looking forward to seeing what the big-bodied Finn will bring to the team's blue line.
"I'm excited to see him," Brunette smiled. "I haven't seen him [play in person] in a few years, but I've watched a little bit of video on him. He's a really steady big guy that can skate. He manages the game really well. He's very competitive. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does."
When he suddenly became a free agent after Jokerit opted out of the KHL's playoffs, Lindbohm said it was "an easy call" to return to the NHL and sign with the Panthers, who enter tonight's tilt riding a four-game winning streak and holding onto first place in the Atlantic Division at 39-13-5.
Having already won at the World Championship and Olympics, he now wants a Stanley Cup.
"It's getting the opportunity to come back to the NHL," said Lindbohm, who notched three goals and five assists in 45 games with Jokerit this season. "I knew how they were doing and I was like, 'Hey, that's the one [trophy] I'm missing.'
"I like to play good solid defense. That's the number one thing for me. Give the first decent pass. We have a great offense, so get the puck to them. When I get the puck, I like to shoot it. It's simple as that."
Filling up the back of the net during their winning streak, the Panthers have outscored the opposition 19-6 over their last four games. Closing out their last homestand with wins over Ottawa (3-0) and Detroit (6-2), they then beat Buffalo (6-1) and Pittsburgh (4-3) on the road.
In Tuesday's win over the Penguins, Sam Reinhart, Aaron Ekblad, Anthony Duclair and Carter Verhaeghe lit the lamp for the Panthers, while Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 32 of 35 shots.
Leading all NHL goaltenders with 18 wins on home ice, Bobrovsky will get the nod in net against the Flyers. Owning an overall record of 29-6-3 on top of a .916 save percentage, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has gone 3-0-0 with a .936 save percentage over his last three outings.
Scoring at least one power play goal in each of their last five games, Florida has gone 9-for-22 (40.9%) with the extra attacker in that span. Dating back to Jan. 1, they rank first in the league with a 29.4% success rate. Leading the charge, captain Aleksander Barkov has scored a team-high seven goals on the power play this season, while Duclair has chipped in five behind him.
"I've liked the flow of our power play for quite a while now," Brunette said.
Stuck in the cellar of the Metropolitan Division at 18-28-10, the Flyers have dropped eight of their last 11 games, but enter tonight's matchup on a bit of an upswing following consecutive wins over the Blackhawks (4-3) and Golden Knights (2-1).
Standing tall against Vegas on Tuesday, Carter Hart made 47 saves to lead the Flyers to victory after Justin Braun and Oskar Lindblom each scored in the first period to give him a 2-0 cushion.
Owning an 11-18-6 record with a .913 save percentage, Hart, who is 1-0-1 in three career starts against the Panthers, has gone 2-2-0 with a .938 save percentage in his last four appearances.
"It was unbelievable," Braun said of Hart's showing against Vegas. "Anytime you give up that many shots and come out with a win, it's probably because your goalie had an incredible night."
On offense, Cam Atkinson leads Philadelphia in goals (20) and points (42). Claude Giroux is second in points with 40 (17 goals, 23 assists), while Travis Konecny has the most assists (24).
Their third and final meeting this season, the Panthers have gone 2-0-0 against the Flyers, following a 4-2 win on Oct. 23 in Philadelphia with a 2-1 overtime win on Nov. 24 in Sunrise.
Making a one-game pitstop in South Florida before playing seven straight games on the road, the Panthers have won a league-best 25 games (25-6-0) in their own barn. Going 11-3-0 over their last 14 games at home, they've outscored their opponents 73-38 during that torrid stretch.
"The home crowds aren't going to see us for a bit, so we want to make it an exciting one and come out hard for the fans," Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said.
