Panthers in Salt Lake City for first ever game against Utah Hockey Club

The Florida Panthers will make some franchise history on Wednesday night.

For the first time ever, the Panthers will play a game against the new Utah Hockey Club, at their home in Salt Lake City, the Delta Center.

They will meet a second time in Sunrise on March 28.

The Hockey Club is enjoying a strong first season in Utah, at least in terms of team morale and fan support.

It’s been a great experience so far for all involved, and while the play on the ice has room for improvement, there is plenty to be excited about with this non-expansion club.

Currently, Utah sits four points back of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

That’s largely due to their current down stretch in which Utah won just once in seven games (1-5-1).

It’s incredibly frustrating as Utah’s funk has come immediately after a seven-game points streak (6-0-1) that had the Hockey Club in the thick of the playoff race.

There are several Panthers connections on Utah’s roster, including two of Florida’s former first round picks – Nick Bjugstad and Lawson Crouse – a former second round pick – Vladislav Kolyachonok – and last season’s penalty-killing specialist Kevin Stenlund.

As for Florida, they are hoping to bounce back from a tough loss on Monday night in Colorado.

The Panthers were playing without two of their top four defensemen, with both Aaron Ekblad and Niko Mikkola missing the game with injuries.

Both were seen on the ice prior to the game and there is hope that one or both will be able to play in Utah.

Here are Florida’s projected lines and pairings ahead of Wednesday’s matchup in Utah:

Evan Rodrigues – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Eetu Luostarinen – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

Carter Verhaeghe – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist

A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Mackie Samoskevich

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov

Nate Schmidt – Uvis Balinskis

Scratches: Jonah Gadjovich, Adam Boqvist, Toby Bjornfot

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