PREVIEW: Barkov 'ready to roll' as Panthers try to close out Hurricanes

SUNRISE, Fla. -- You knew the captain wasn't going to miss this one.

Just one win away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final, superstar center Aleksander Barkov will be in the lineup for the Florida Panthers when they take their first shot at closing out the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday.

"Ready to roll," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "Freshest guy on the ice."

Missing the final 7:04 of the first period in a 1-0 win over the Hurricanes in Game 3, Barkov headed to the dressing room after absorbing a hip check from Hurricanes forward Jack Drury.

Listed as a lower-body injury, Barkov did not return.

"It was as much precautionary as anything," Maurice said.

That being said, teammates still breathed a sigh of relief seeing Barkov on the ice this morning.

"He's such a big part of this team," Panthers forward Colin White said of Barkov, who ranks third on the team in playoff scoring with 12 points (four goals, eight assists), while also sitting first in both faceoffs wins (152) and takeaways (21). "He's our leader. To have him back is great."

Taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the series, the Panthers needed only one goal in Game 3 -- a tally from Sam Reinhart on the power play -- to take down the Hurricanes as Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 32 shots he faced to continue his epic run and earn his first-career playoff shutout.

Backstopping "The P's," as PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka would say, to wins in 10 of their last 11 games, Bobrovsky has recorded a .944 save percentage in that stretch. In three games so far against the Hurricanes, he's stopped 132 of 135 shots for a .978 save percentage.

At even strength against Carolina, he's currently sitting on a .991 save percentage.

"Same old Bob, to be honest," Panthers forward Anthony Duclair said of Bobrovsky, who's saved 19.5 goals above expected in the playoffs, per MoneyPuck.com. "I've seen this version of Bob before. I'm not surprised. He's a hell of a goalie. Every day I tell him that he's my favorite goalie."

Of course, we all know the Hurricanes won't go down without a fight.

After beating the New York Islanders in six games in Round 1 and the New Jersey Devils in five games in Round 2, Carolina, which finished with the second-most points in the NHL (113) during the regular season, hasn't been able to generate much of anything against the Panthers so far.

With only three goals to speak of over the first three games, the Hurricanes have only posted one goal at even strength in the series. Seth Jarvis, Stefan Noesen and Sebastian Aho have each tallied two points in the series, but only six total players on the team have notched a point.

In net, Frederik Andersen has been outstanding, but just not as good as Bobrovsky.

Starting two of three games in the series (he took a breather for Game 2 after being on the losing side of the quadruple overtime thriller in Game 1), Andersen has stopped 73 of 77 shots for a .948 save percentage. In essence, the Hurricanes can't really ask much more from him.

With both teams standing tall at 5-on-5, special teams will continue to be key.

In each of the last two games, Florida's game-winner has been scored on the power play.

"Obviously getting on them early," Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour said of tonight's tilt. "They're going to have their chances. You just have to weather it the best you can. Obviously the way the series has been going, it's been low scoring. Not give them much. Weather as much as you can. Get our fans on us, loud. Try to get on them early and often and try to go from there."

Having been in this situation before, the Panthers also know what to expect.

In Round 1, the Boston Bruins cruised to a 6-2 win in Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead in the series. In Round 2, the Toronto Maple Leafs just squeezed out a 2-1 win in Game 4 to avoid being swept.

This time around, the Panthers want to be the team that plays the better game.

"This will be our third Game 4 [at home] because we start on the road in each series," Maurice said. "I felt that Game 4 was Boston's best game of the series and was also Toronto's best game of the series. Different context. Boston is going to go to 3-1 at that point, and Toronto is down 3-0.

"But I think we learned some things in those games. It got us in the right direction in Boston and we learned some things that will be important for tonight in that Game 4 against Toronto. We expect [the Hurricanes] to be as strong as they possible game for the entire game."

THEY SAID IT

"Just play the game. We were in this situation last series and we know how it ended. I think it's just about keeping the same mentality since the start of playoffs. It's right. We want to continue paying hard defensively, not giving those top guys much space and room out there."- Anthony Duclair on the keys to Game 4

"It's huge. I think we were here last series. I think we got a little lackadaisical in that game. Not even that. It's just staying in the moment, working hard and keep playing the same way we've been playing. Good things will come from that." - Colin White on trying to close out the Hurricanes

"He's a backbone back there. He lets me be free, lets me go play. He does the dirty things you don't always see on the scoresheet. He's a warrior. He battles every way possible. Guys see that. He's a big veteran player and all he wants to do is win." - Brandon Montour on Marc Staal

PLAYOFF LEADERS

Panthers

Goals:Tkachuk (7), Reinhart (7)

Assists:Tkachuk (12)

Points:Tkachuk (19)

Hurricanes

Goals: Aho (5), Fast (5), Jarvis (5)

Assists: Martinook (7), Burns (7), Aho (7)

Points: Aho (12)

PANTHERS PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Forwards

Carter Verhaeghe - Aleksander Barkov - Anthony Duclair

Nick Cousins - Sam Bennett - Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen - Anton Lundell - Sam Reinhart

Colin White - Eric Staal - Ryan Lomberg

Defensemen

Gustav Forsling - Aaron Ekblad

Marc Staal - Brandon Montour

Josh Mahura - Radko Gudas

Goaltenders

Sergei Bobrovsky

Alex Lyon

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

- May 8: F Mackie Samoskevich agreed to terms on a three-year, entry-level contract

HOW TO WATCH

When: Wednesday, May 24 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: FLA Live Arena - Sunrise, FL

TV & Streaming: TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS

Radio:560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 92.1 WZZR (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); SiriusXM Streaming Channel 220 / App & Streaming 932; NHL App

Tickets:Click Here

PREGAME LISTEN

Hear from Anton Lundell on this week's episode of Territory Talk.