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Panthers mull changes after blowout loss in Vegas. And latest updates Luostarinen, Gudas

For just a moment at the start of the third period of their 7-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, the Florida Panthers gave themselves a flicker of hope.

The Panthers started the third with a new-look line of Anton Lundell, Aleksander Barkov and Anthony Duclair, and scored just 14 seconds into the period, briefly cutting the Golden Knights’ lead to 4-1 in Game 2 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final in Las Vegas.

The comeback bid ended nearly as quickly as it began with the Golden Knights answering just 96 seconds later, but it gave Florida a peek at a potential way forward to come back from a 2-0 series deficit.

“When it got away from us, I rolled a lot of different lines,” coach Paul Maurice said.

The Panthers used eight different line combinations for at least two minutes Monday and their most effective combos were deviations from their usual lineup.

With the Lundell-Barkov-Duclair trio on the ice, Florida had a 10-2 advantage in shot attempts, a 7-0 edge in scoring chances and a 5-0 edge in high-danger chances. The Panthers only other goal came from Matthew Tkachuk when the superstar right wing was playing with center Sam Bennett and left wing Carter Verhaeghe, and the Verhaeghe-Bennett-Tkachuk trio — also a deviation from the usual lineup — gave Florida a 6-1 edge in shot attempts and 4-1 advantage in scoring chances.

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Granted, both of these goals came in what was essentially garbage time, but they also account for half of the Panthers’ goals in this Stanley Cup Final so far.

“We’ll look at that,” Maurice said. “I don’t know know that the changes in the lines had an impact or was the reason for generating the goals that we did, but certainly we won’t discount it.”

The wide array of different line combinations was also the product of Florida dressing seven defensemen and only 11 forwards with forward Eetu Luostarinen out with an injury, and so the first-year Panthers coach was giving extra shifts to Tkachuk, Duclair and Verhaeghe right away.

The sample size is still small on the Lundell-Barkov-Duclair trio. It is not, however, for the Verhaeghe-Bennett-Tkachuk group: Those three have now played more than 36 5-on-5 minutes together in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs with Florida outscoring opponents 7-1.

Jun 3, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas (7) grapples with Vegas Golden Knights center Ivan Barbashev (49) in the second period in game one of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 3, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas (7) grapples with Vegas Golden Knights center Ivan Barbashev (49) in the second period in game one of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Panthers still evaluating Luostarinen, Gudas

The Panthers are still awaiting more clarity on the statuses of both Luostarinen and defenseman Radko Gudas as they deal with injuries coming out of the first two games of the Cup Final in Vegas.

Luostarinen, who had been playing left wing on the third line, didn’t play in either of the first two games of the Final, as he continues to deal with a lower-body injury he sustained in the final game of the Eastern Conference finals last month. Gudas, who typically plays on the third defensive pairing, exited after getting hit in the head in the first period of Game 2 on Monday and did not return.

Gudas was set to be re-evaluated later Tuesday. The 33-year-old Czech also briefly exited Game 1 with an injury Saturday, but was able to return.

“All that testing will be done today,” Maurice said, “and then will be done when we get home.”

Luostarinen’s status remains “day-to-day,” Maurice said. The 24-year-old Finn practiced with Florida on the eve of the Final on Friday and his status for Game 1 was initially deemed a “game-time decision,” Maurice said, before the Panthers held him out for both games in Nevada.

“He’s day-to-day,” Maurice said. “He’s been on the ice, but he’s not ready to play.”

Luostarinen has two goals and three assists on 14 shots, with 13 blocked shots and a plus-minus of plus-2 in the playoffs. Gudas had three assists and 13 shots, plus 30 blocked shots and a plus-minus of plus-3 in the postseason. Both are particularly valuable on the penalty kill, where Gudas ranks third among Florida defensemen in average time on ice in the playoffs and Luostarinen ranks fourth among its forwards. The Golden Knights have gone 4 of 11 pon their power play to start the series.

Both have a bit of extra time to get healthy now. Game 3 of the Final isn’t until Thursday at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise.