PANTHERS (12-10-2) at SENATORS (14-8-2)
7 p.m. ET; CITY, TVA Sports, FS-F , NHL.TV
Panthers team scope
Florida Panthers forward Nick Bjugstad, who missed the first 19 games of the season with a broken hand, will move to center from wing, where he has played for the past five games. He'll swap positions with Denis Malgin. "We wanted to get (Bjugstad) into some game rhythm, that's why we put him on the wing," Panthers coach Tom Rowe said. "Malgin was playing well down the center. We felt tonight let's get [Bjugstad] back in the middle of the ice where he's more comfortable, get him going, get him kicked off to the scoring opportunities we think he can bring." The Panthers are playing the fourth game of a six-game road trip. They are 1-1-1 and coming off a 2-1 overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. Florida is 1-0-1 since Rowe replaced Gerard Gallant as coach following a 3-2 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 27. After consulting with the assistant coaches, Rowe said he has been focused on making some changes to the defensive coverage since taking over from Gallant. "We played an awful lot of area [coverage] last year, and I thought it would be wise to get back doing that," he said. "It's easier to sort it out and you use a lot less energy when you go into a zone coverage."
Senators team scope
The Ottawa Senators are 4-1-1 in their past six games and are playing the finale of a three-game homestand before leaving on a four-game road trip. With defensemen Marc Methot (lower body) and Fredrik Claesson (hip) out, Andreas Englund, called up from Binghamton of the AHL on Friday, will make his NHL debut. He was Ottawa's second-round pick (No. 40) in the 2014 NHL Draft. The 20-year-old is a stay-at-home defenseman. Coach Guy Boucher said he will rotate his defense pairings. With forward Bobby Ryan on injured reserve with a finger injury, Buddy Robinson, 25, will play his first game of the season on a line with Ryan Dzingel and Kyle Turris. Robinson had a goal and an assist in three games with the Senators last season; the goal came against the Panthers on April 7. The Senators had an 83-43 margin in shot attempts in their 4-1 loss to the Panthers at Canadian Tire Centre on Nov. 19.
Panthers projected lineup
Jonathan Marchessault -- Aleksander Barkov -- Jaromir Jagr
Jussi Jokinen -- Vincent Trocheck -- Reilly Smith
Seth Griffith -- Nick Bjugstad -- Denis Malgin
Colton Sceviour -- Derek MacKenzie -- Shawn Thornton
Jakub Kindl -- Aaron Ekblad
Michael Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
Scratched: Kyle Rau, Dylan McIlrath
Injured: Alex Petrovic (lower body), Jonathan Huberdeau (Achilles)
Senators projected lineup
Ryan Dzingel -- Kyle Turris -- Buddy Robinson
Mike Hoffman -- Derick Brassard -- Mark Stone
Zack Smith -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Tom Pyatt
Chris Kelly -- Curtis Lazar -- Chris Neil
Andreas Englund -- Erik Karlsson
Mark Borowiecki -- Chris Wideman
Scratched: None
Injured: Bobby Ryan (hand), Marc Methot (lower body), Fredrik Claesson (hip), Clarke MacArthur (concussion)
Leave of absence: Craig Anderson
Status report
Luongo will start his third game in a row. He has given up one goal in each of his past three starts (2-0-1). … With Anderson still on personal leave to be with his wife, Nicholle, who started cancer treatments, Condon will start in back-to-back games. He made 29 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. Neil will play his 997th NHL game.
Who's hot
Marchessault has a goal and two assists in his past three games. … Hoffman has four goals and two assists in his past three games. Stone has two goals and two assists in his past three games
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