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Jacob Markstrom, Radko Gudas Day-to-day, Expected Back In Panthers Lineup By Tuesday In Ottawa

The Florida Panthers received a welcomed sight when they hit the ice for Thursday’s morning skate.

Back in South Florida after a quick road back-to-back earlier this week, the Cats’ were out at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale gearing up for their game that night against the Vancouver Canucks.

Joining the team for their morning skate was starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom.

It was on Monday in Buffalo when Markstrom started the game, but after stopping 9 of 11 shots during the first period, he did not return for the second or third.

Backup Akira Schmid played well in Markstrom’s stead, doing his best to hold down the fort in Buffalo before picking up a gutsy win the following night in Columbus.

For the game against the Blue Jackets, Florida called up goaltender Cooper Black from AHL Charlotte to serve as Schmid’s backup.

That’s how Florida’s goalie tandem will remain for at least the next couple games.

Speaking after the morning skate, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said that both Markstrom and injured defenseman Radko Gudas could return for Tuesday’s game in Ottawa, if not sooner.

“Both are making improvements,” Maurice said. “Jake was back on the ice, Radko might get to a point where he can play Saturday, but we’ve got three days on the other side of it so it may just make more sense to get him right. He’s purely day-to-day, he’s walking around, he’s fine, he’ll be on the ice soon. We would expect both of them to be able to play in Ottawa.”

Schmid was named the starting goaltender against Vancouver, and it’s likely he’ll remain between the pipes when Florida hosts the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night in Sunrise.

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Thursday’s contest with the Canucks:

Brady Tkachuk – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Reinhart – Lars Eller

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sandis Vilmanis

Boko Imama – Sam Lafferty – Garnet Hathaway

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones

Dmitry Kulikov – Uvis Balinskis

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