Panthers at Hurricanes preview with both Tkachuks in Raleigh
Florida brings a near-NHL lineup to Lenovo Center three days after hanging six on the same Carolina team in Sunrise.
Florida and Carolina run it back Tuesday night in Raleigh, three days after the Panthers walked out of Sunrise with a 6-3 win in the preseason opener.
Preseason game two usually means half a lineup and a lot of numbers in the 60s. Not this time. Florida put its actual team on the plane.
The matchup
Carolina is going the other way with a young group, which sets up the thing worth watching: can the kids handle a forecheck run by players who have been to three straight Finals?
Sunday said no. Florida scored six and Brady Tkachuk collected a Gordie Howe hat trick in his first preseason game as a Panther, per NHL.com.
The Canes will have watched that tape. Expect a harder gap through the neutral zone and fewer free entries than they gave up in Sunrise.
The lineup
Both Tkachuks made the trip, along with Aleksander Barkov, six NHL defensemen, Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid.
Florida had not confirmed a starter as of Tuesday afternoon. Markstrom is the guy now that Sergei Bobrovsky is in Toronto, and Schmid is here on a two-year deal after arriving from New Jersey in June.
Both goalies traveling in a preseason game usually means both play.
Who is out
Brad Marchand is expected back early in the season after surgery, per Paul Maurice. Jonah Gadjovich is out indefinitely following his own procedure last season.
Barkov is the story on the other side of that ledger. He missed all of last season with a knee injury and is skating in September like it never happened.
Three things worth watching
The Tkachuk pairing. Maurice kept the brothers on separate lines to open camp. Preseason road games are where a coach tries the thing he says he will not try.
Barkov's minutes. Nobody needs him to play 22 tonight. How he looks in the ones he does play tells you plenty about the first month.
The bubble guys. Roster decisions get made on nights like this, in a building 700 miles from home, in front of nobody.
Ferda take
Florida wins again, and closer than Sunday. Carolina's young group will be better prepared and will take a run at somebody early to set a tone.
The Panthers have too many real NHL players in the lineup to lose this one, but preseason road games have a way of turning into track meets in the third. Call it 4-3.
How to watch
Puck drop is 7 p.m. ET at Lenovo Center. NHLN nationally, SCRIPPS locally.
