Panthers lineup today: Florida’s projected lineup for Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes | Stanley Cup Playoffs, Conference Finals, May 28, 2025

Tonight, the Florida Panthers will look to close out their Eastern Conference finals series against the Carolina Hurricanes. While the team had positioned itself for a clean four-game sweep, a Game 4 shutout loss to the Hurricanes at home has now put the reigning Stanley Cup champs in a position to close things out on the road.

With a win tonight, the Panthers will punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final, where they will collide with the winner of the Edmonton Oilers-Dallas Stars series. On the other hand, if the Hurricanes come away with a win tonight, the series will head back to Florida, giving the team a chance to close things out at home.

Florida Panthers projected lines

Note: Lines subject to change

Forwards

1. Evan Rodrigues - Aleksander Barkov - Jesper Boqvist
2. Carter Verhaeghe - Sam Bennett - Matthew Tkachuk
3. Eetu Luostarinen - Anton Lundell - Brad Marchand
4. Nico Sturm - Tomas Nosek - Jonah Gadjovich

Defense

1. Gustav Forsling - Aaron Ekblad
2. Dmitry Kulikov - Seth Jones
3. Nate Schmidt - Uvis Balinskis

Goalies

1. Sergei Bobrovsky
2. Vitek Vanecek

Powerplay

1. Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Evan Rodrigues, Seth Jones, Aaron Ekblad
2. Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Nate Schmidt

Penalty Kill

1. Tomas Nosek, Eetu Luostarinen, Gustav Forsling, Aaron Ekblad
2. Aleksander Barkov, Anton Lundell, Dmitry Kulikov, Seth Jones

Looking at the latest surrounding Panthers forward Sam Reinhart ahead of tonight's game

While the Panthers have impressed this postseason and have come up big when it matters most, the team could again be heading into tonight's game without Sam Reinhart.

The veteran forward exited Game 2 in Carolina after being hit by Sebastian Aho. early in the first period. As Reinhart crossed the blue line and into attacking territory, Aho threw out a hip check that wound up taking out Reinhart's left leg.

Along with AJ Greer and Niko Mikkola, Reinhart skated in Tuesday's practice, with Reinhart taking the ice for the first time since the Game 2 hit.

After Tuesday's optional practice, coach Paul Maurice spoke with members of the press, saying that all three players are game-time decisions. NHL.com quoted the coach as saying:

“They all skated, so we’ll see how they are [Wednesday]. That’s what we expected, it is what we hoped for. We will put them on the ice again tomorrow.”

So far, there's been no further update, however, expect the team to make a decision sooner rather than later.