NHL.com’s projected lineups for Panthers at Blue Jackets landed on Tuesday with a fresh wrinkle in goal: Black was recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League and will back up Schmid. That move came after Jacob Markstrom left at the end of the first period Monday, when he allowed two goals on 11 shots in a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
That is why this matchup is being searched now. The Panthers did not hold a morning skate after the loss, so the lineup picture had to be pieced together from projected combinations and injury notes rather than a full on-ice look. In a game-day setting like this, the smallest update matters because it can tell readers who is available and who is not before puck drop.
For the Panthers, the projected forward group showed Brady Tkachuk with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk, Eetu Luostarinen with Anton Lundell and Sandis Vilmanis, Carter Verhaeghe with Sam Reinhart and Sam Lafferty, and Bokondji Imama with Lars Eller and Garnet Hathaway. The injury list was just as important: Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand, Jonah Gadjovich, Markstrom and Radko Gudas were all listed, with Gudas expected to sit out and Balinskis in the lineup in his place.
Paul Maurice said Markstrom experienced tightness and called it “just standard stuff,” a phrase that points to caution more than alarm. The recall of Black also hints at how the Panthers are covering themselves after Monday’s game, with the backup role changing at least for this matchup while the status of the starter remains tied to how he comes through the day.
On the Blue Jackets side, the projected lines included Matthew Knies with Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson, Valeri Nichushkin with Sean Monahan and Luca Del Bell Belluz, Cole Sillinger with Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier, and Dmitri Voronkov with Danton Heinen and Ryan Lomberg. The injury report added Dante Fabbro, Ivan Provorov, Isac Lundestrom and Conor Garland, but Garland is also set to be a game-time decision. If he cannot play, Del Bel Belluz will make his season debut, which leaves one of the night’s clearest unresolved answers in place even after the lineup sheet is out.
Talbot will start for the second time in three games, giving this matchup a familiar crease decision even as both clubs work through absences. The lines are projected, the injuries are real, and the final change that could still matter most is whether Garland is on the ice when Panthers at Blue Jackets begins.
