The Florida Panthers were unable to complete the sweep on home ice against the Carolina Hurricanes, but they have another chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night — and they'll have some reinforcements for the potential series-clinching tilt.
Both Sam Reinhart and Niko Mikkola are expected to play in Game 5 at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, head coach Paul Maurice confirmed.
“We expect them all to play,” Maurice said regarding Reinhart, Mikkola and AJ Greer, per NHL.com's Dan Rosen and George Richards.
“We didn't leave them out to rest them because we're up 3-0 and, ‘Hey, let's see.' If you can play, you're playing. There's no Game 6 for us here. There's this one today. Healthy players play. If you can't be better than the guy that I'm going to put in your spot, you're not playing. We've got good players. We've got healthy guys that won't play. Everybody that's in the lineup will play.”
Reinhart returned to practice on Tuesday for the first time since leaving in the first period of Game 2 back on May 22. He took an awkward hit from Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho and didn't return. The Panthers have missed the superstar Canadian, especially on the powerplay where they are 0-for-8 in his absence.
“Reinhart is a big part of our power play,” said forward Carter Verhaeghe, who has 13 points in the playoffs. “He is a great player, and losing him kind of hurts.”
As for Mikkola, he crashed into the boards and suffered an undisclosed injury in the third period of a 6-2 victory in Game 3. He had scored two goals before exiting the contest. Greer also left Game 3 with an ailment of his own.
All of Reinhart, Mikkola and Greer missed Game 4, a 3-0 defeat at Amerant Bank Arena. It was Florida's first loss of the playoffs since Game 6 of the second round against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Panthers looking to send Hurricanes packing in Raleigh
Article Continues BelowDespite a disappointing home loss on Monday night, the Panthers are just one victory away from making it back-to-back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final.
They lost in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 before capturing the franchise's inaugural championship in a thrilling Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers last year.
Having Reinhart and Mikkola back will be huge; the former has 11 points in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games after leading the team in scoring in the regular season, while the latter has three goals and five points as well as a plus-six rating in the postseason.
Both Jesper Boqvist and Nico Sturm played in Game 4 up front, while Uvis Balinskis replaced Mikkola on the back end. It's not yet clear who will come out of the lineup, but most likely, that trio will all sit for Game 5.
The Panthers would love to silence the Hurricanes on Wednesday night; Carolina has some confidence back after winning an Eastern Conference Final game for the first time since 2006. Florida is looking to book yet another trip to the Finals, while Carolina is trying to send the series back to Sunrise for a Game 6 on Friday night.
Puck drops just past 8:00 p.m. ET from Lenovo Center.