Florida Panthers Make Lineup Change Ahead Of Home Matchup Against Chicago Blackhawks

The Florida Panthers will look to bounce back from Monday’s loss to the Detroit Red Wings when they wrap up a three-game homestand on Wednesday night at Amerant Bank Arena.

Florida, wearing their snazzy new Hometown Remix uniforms, will host Connor Bedard and the struggling Chicago Blackhawks.

Monday’s defeat snapped the Cats’ three-game winning streak and dropped their record to 8-5-2.

Entering play Wednesday, Florida holds the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, trailing the first-place Boston Bruins by five points in the Atlantic Division.

The Panthers play Boston on Sunday afternoon, by the way.

Florida held a lightly attended optional morning skate in Fort Lauderdale ahead of their matchup with Chicago.

Footage from the skate can be seen below: 

Afterwards, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said there would only be one lineup change for the Cats.

Defenseman Uvis Balinskis will slot back into Florida’s blue line, taking the place of veteran Radko Gudas.

So far this season, Balinskis has played seven games, logging one assist and a plus-1 on-ice rating, with three shots on goal, eight hits, seven giveaways, one takeaway and nine penalty minutes. 

He will skate on the Panthers’ third defensive pairing alongside Dmitry Kulikov.

Maurice also said Florida would be turning back to goaltender Jacob Markstrom between the pipes.

Markstrom returned from a five-game injury absence on Monday, stopping 24 shots in Florida’s 5-3 loss to the Red Wings.

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Wednesday’s meeting with Chicago:

Brady Tkachuk – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Reinhart – Sandis Vilmanis

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Lars Eller

Boko Imama – Cole Schwindt – Garnet Hathaway

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones

Dmitry Kulikov – Uvis Balinskis

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Photo caption: Oct 17, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers defensemanUvisBalinskis(26) drives down the puck against Seattle Kraken during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Isabella Frias-Imagn Images)