It’s official: Sam Bennett returns to Florida Panthers lineup for Game 3 vs. Bruins

Sam Bennett is back.

The Florida Panthers’ second-line center, who hasn’t played since Game 2 of the Panthers’ opening-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 23 due to a hand/wrist injury after being hit by a slap shot from teammate Brandon Montour, is officially in the lineup for Game 3 of Florida’s second-round series against the Boston Bruins on Friday at TD Garden.

Bennett took part in the team’s morning skate, at which point Panthers coach Paul Maurice said he would be a game-time decision but that Bennett “felt really good.”

During morning skate, Bennett was grouped with Ryan Lomberg and Jonah Gadjovich, who have been Florida’s healthy scratches among the forward group.

“We’ll get him a nap this afternoon, get him through the warmup and make a decision,” Maurice said.

Bennett will slot back into his normal spot as Florida’s second-line center, with Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk on the wings.

The ripple effect from that: Anton Lundell slides down to centering the third line with Eetu Luostarinen and Evan Rodrigues on the wings and Kevin Stenlund returned to the fourth line with Kyle Okposo and Steven Lorentz on his wings.

Florida’s top line is Aleksander Barkov with wingers Vladimir Tarasenko and Sam Reinhart.

Nick Cousins came out of the lineup as a result.

“There’s no easy answer,” Maurice said pregame about which forward he would take out for Bennett. “I’ve thought about it for awhile, because we had a pretty good idea that Sam will be back almost at this time. And then we get into the Tampa series and the fourth line scores two goals one night and they’re the difference in the game for us. Now, it got a little wobbly there maybe in Game 4 and 5 [against Tampa Bay] and Game one [against Boston], but I’m gonna end up taking a player out of mind that doesn’t deserve to come out of the lineup, but Sam Bennett’s not watching games — if he’s ready to play, he’s playing, so it’s gonna be tough.”

The Panthers know just how valuable Bennett is to the team when he’s in the lineup. During the Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup Finals last year, Bennett put up 15 points in 20 playoff games. He had a goal and an assist in that Game 2 against Tampa Bay before the injury.

“He brings a lot of speed and physicality — all the kind of tangible things that you want as a player,” Verhaeghe said. “He makes you pay if he gets an opportunity or if he gets a chance, he’ll catch you with your head down. It makes other teams more aware. He’s a phenomenal player. I love playing with him and he brings just so much more depth to the team.”

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