Carolina Hurricanes at Florida Panthers: Preseason Game 2 lineups and game discussion

After a 4-1 win over the Lightning in Raleigh Tuesday, the Canes will continue their preseason slate against another former Southeast Division foe tonight, as they take on the Florida Panthers in Sunrise.

While Carolina’s lineup Tuesday largely resembled what their opening night roster might look like, especially at forward, tonight’s game will be mostly the opposite, with a roster that will more closely resemble that of the Chicago Wolves this year.

The crowded battle for the two spots on the Hurricanes’ third defensive pairing will continue, with Dylan Coghlan and Jalen Chatfield, who impressed Tuesday (especially Coghlan) the lone holdovers from that lineup, and Calvin de Haan and Ethan Bear making up another pairing.

Antti Raanta is expected to start in net. Here’s how Carolina projects to line up tonight:

Jordan Martinook - Jack Drury - Ondrej Kase
Ryan Dzingel - Derek Stepan - Stefan Noesen
Jamieson Rees - Justin Robidas - Joseph LaBate
Mackenzie MacEachern - Vasily Ponomarev - Noel Gunler

Calvin de Haan - Ethan Bear
Dylan Coghlan - Jalen Chatfield
Max Lajoie - Grigorii Dronov

Antti Raanta
Zach Sawchenko

The Hurricanes will see some familiar faces tonight in former forward prospect Eetu Luostarinen, defenseman Gustav Forsling (who never actually played a game for Carolina) and last year’s third-string goalie, Alex Lyon.

Oh, and a veteran forward whose on a PTO in Florida and goes by the name of Eric Staal will suit up for the Panthers tonight. Some of you might have heard of him.

Here’s Florida’s full game group for tonight, with the Cats playing significantly more NHL talent than Carolina: