Florida Panthers make two lineup changes ahead of Game 6 against Boston Bruins
Last season, Ryan Lomberg was an everyday staple in the Florida Panthers’ lineup, with the hard-nosed, tenacious winger providing a physical presence on the team’s fourth line.
But by the end of this season, with Panthers general manager Bill Zito loading up at the trade deadline with the acquisitions of forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Kyle Okposo, Lomberg found himself having to compete for a spot in the lineup.
Considering where the Panthers are right now -- still competing in the Stanley Cup playoffs -- Lomberg has found peace with his role, considering what it means for the team as a whole.
“It’s a sign of a good team when you’ve got some good depth,” Lomberg said ahead of the playoffs. “It’s definitely something we’re thankful for, especially looking back to last year when things got kind of thin towards the end there. I think Bill has done a great job of bringing in some great depth.”
After having to bide his time for most of the postseason after missing time due to an illness, Lomberg will return to the lineup on Friday for Game 6 of Florida’s second-round series against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
Also joining Lomberg in a return to the lineup: Nick Cousins, who has been a healthy scratch the past three games. They will be the wingers on Florida’s fourth line with Kevin Stenlund at center, replacing Steven Lorentz and Okposo.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice confirmed the moves after the team’s morning skate at TD Garden on Friday, one day after hinting that lineup changes could be made.
“They’re energy bringers from the start,” Maurice said. “That goes from the locker room into the morning skate. All of the little superstition things the players have, those guys are connected to everybody. They bring that.”
The Panthers lead the best-of-7 series with the Bruins 3-2 and can advance to the Eastern Conference final with a win on Friday.
Lomberg was in the Panthers’ lineup to begin the playoffs, logging four hits and one shot on goal in about six-and-a-half minutes of ice time in Florida’s 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 21.
He missed the next three games due to an illness and then was a healthy scratch the following six games because things were clicking for the Panthers with the lineup they were deploying.
“For me personally,” Lomberg said, “it’s just about playing my game when I get in there, sticking to my identity and doing the things that got me here.”
As for Cousins, he played in all of Florida’s first seven playoff games before being the odd man out when Sam Bennett returned from a hand/wrist injury he sustained in Game 2 of the playoffs.
At the time, Maurice said the decision to take Cousins out of the lineup was one he “agonized over because of the human part of it.”
“Everybody loves this guy,” Maurice said then. “He’s just got a great personality. It’s all important. It’s a sacrifice for our team that we asked him to make.”
Cousins and Lomberg were both accepting of the changes. Need proof? Maurice simply points to how the two interact with the rest of the team at practice.
“Even if you don’t take my word for it,” Maurice said, “you can sit up there and watch the practices and listen to them. That’s a tell of the guys in the playoffs who are in and out [of the lineup], how they fit, how they feel. They’re still chirping. They’re still completely part of it. They’ve been great.”
The rest of Florida’s lineup will remain the same and should look as follows
Forward lines
Vladimir Tarasenko-Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Evan Rodrigues
Lomberg-Stenlund-Cousins
Defense pairings
Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola-Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
