Panthers can bury the Canucks if they stay out of the box

Vancouver shows up in Sunrise on a five-game skid, and that's the most dangerous kind of easy night. The Canucks are 2-6-0 and desperate, while the Panthers are 3-2-2, down two regulars and starting Akira Schmid again. Florida should win this one, and the only realistic way they give it away is a parade to the penalty box.

Matthew Tkachuk sees the trap. "They are desperate right now after the past few games," he said. "We should be desperate as well."

The lineup card: These are the expected lines from the morning skate, with no scratches listed. Top line: Brady Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk. Second: Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart and Lars Eller. Third: Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell and Sandis Vilmanis. Fourth: Bokondji Imama, Sam Lafferty and Garnet Hathaway.

On the back end it's Gustav Forsling with Aaron Ekblad, Niko Mikkola with Seth Jones, and Dmitry Kulikov with Uvis Balinskis. Keep an eye on Lafferty's minutes: he played 9.5 against Columbus, down 5.4 from the previous game, per NHL data.

In net: Schmid gets his second straight start, confirmed by Maurice. He's at .875 through three appearances, per NHL data, so what he needs most is a quiet, uneventful night. Cooper Black came up from Charlotte to back him up.

Vancouver is expected to go back to Leevi Meriläinen, who stopped 35 of 38 against the Islanders and sits at .927.

Who's out: Aleksander Barkov (knee) and Brad Marchand (knee) are out long term. Jonah Gadjovich is on LTIR. Jacob Markstrom left Monday's loss in Buffalo after one period but skated this morning. Radko Gudas misses a second straight game after taking a knee hit in that same game.

Maurice left the door open for Saturday against Seattle. "We would expect both of them to be able to play in Ottawa," he said.

For Vancouver, Thatcher Demko (hip) is out. Filip Chytil makes his season debut after a preseason shoulder injury, centering Paul Cotter and Brock Boeser. Guillaume Brisebois, Luke Schenn and Arshdeep Bains are the expected scratches.

The Canucks right now: They've lost five straight and been outscored 23-9 in that stretch, by our count. Elias Pettersson leads them with nine points but hasn't scored in six games. Marco Rossi hasn't registered a point in six.

Their penalty kill is at 57.1 percent, per NHL data. That isn't a slump. That's an open door with the lights on.

Head-to-head: First meeting of the season, and only Florida's second home game.

The one matchup: Florida's power play against that Vancouver kill. The cats run at 18.4 percent, and Tkachuk has points in six straight games.

Here's the catch. Florida takes 14.1 penalty minutes a game, the most in the league, and is shorthanded about four times a night, by our count. Vancouver's power play runs at 20 percent. Stay out of the box and the Canucks have nothing to lean on.

Pabs' read: Panthers 4-2. Tkachuk extends the streak on the power play, the second line gets one at five-on-five, and Schmid does enough. If the Panthers take five minors, this gets interesting in a hurry.

Florida is a -300 favorite at Hard Rock Bet with the total at 6.5. They've covered the puck line once in six games with a closing line, by our count. 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

How to watch: Puck drop is 7 p.m. ET at Amerant Bank Arena. TV is Scripps Sports: WSFL 39 in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, WHDT 9 in West Palm Beach and LAFF 36.3 in Southwest Florida. Stream it on Panthers+ or ESPN+. Radio is WQAM. In Canada, it's on Sportsnet Pacific and TVA Sports.