Panthers making three lineup changes tonight vs Oilers
The Florida Panthers are making some line changes as they look to defeat the Edmonton Oilers and hoist the Stanley Cup tonight.
As was reported yesterday, the Panthers will be putting Nick Cousins into the lineup for the first time this series. The scrappy 30-year-old has suited up for 11 games so far in the playoffs, registering one assist. He’ll draw in for Kyle Okposo, who dressed for the first five games of this series.
A smaller tweak up front will be in the top six, as Carter Verhaeghe will be promoted to the first line to play alongside Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart. Evan Rodrigues, who has had an excellent series so far with four goals and six points, will drop to the second line with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk.
The third and final change for the Panthers will come on the power play, as Oliver Ekman-Larsson will take over quarterback duties from Brandon Montour. Montour has been solid throughout the playoffs with 11 points through 22 games but had an ugly turnover on the man advantage in Game 5, which led to Connor Brown scoring a shorthanded marker.
Mr. Shorthanded, Connor Brown does it AGAIN ā¼ļøš³pic.twitter.com/DVsP54vapE
ā DraftKings (@DraftKings) June 19, 2024
“Just try to have fun with it and try to simplify it,” Ekman-Larsson told reporters this morning when asked about the opportunity.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the power play: āTry to simplify it and try to have fun with it.ā pic.twitter.com/5eUNawkaJM
ā Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) June 21, 2024
The Panthers appeared to be well on their way to winning the first Stanley Cup in franchise history just over a week ago, as they defeated the Oilers by a 4-3 final to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. The Oilers have made things interesting, however, winning two straight to cut the deficit to 3-2.
The Oilers could also be making a change, as head coach Kris Knoblauch referred to Evander Kane as a game-time decision tonight.
The puck drop in what is sure to be a thriller this evening is set for 6 pm MT. Should the Oilers win, Game 7 will take place in Sunrise, Florida, on Monday night.
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