As Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final looms, the defending champion Florida Panthers are getting a boost as forward A.J. Greer is set to return to the lineup, per Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com. Greer had been sidelined with an injury he sustained in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Hurricanes.
Greer’s physicality will be something the Panthers will benefit from for the remainder of the series. In his first season with Florida, Greer led the team with 222 regular-season hits in 81 games. The 6’3″, 205-pound forward also made his presence felt in the playoffs before going down, racking up three points and dishing out 45 hits over 12 hard-fought games.
Discussing his return, Greer said, “I really hated watching from up top and not being with the guys and not being on the bench and not being able to play. But I had to make a decision that was going to be helpful to the team and helpful to what we’re trying to accomplish, and if I can’t be 100 percent, I’m not playing the right way.”
With Greer ready to rejoin the action, winger Jesper Boqvist will be the odd man out of the lineup. Greer will skate on the fourth line alongside Jonah Gadjovich and Tomas Nosek. Despite Game 1 stretching into deep overtime, Boqvist saw limited action, logging just 7:58 of ice time, which was nearly five minutes below his regular-season average over 78 games. He followed that with 8:41 in Game 2.
Greer’s return doesn’t come as a major surprise, as head coach Paul Maurice mentioned before Game 2 that the 28-year-old was trending in the right direction and had a chance to return.
“He’s on track but he won’t go tonight. But we think if he tracks out, he could be available for Game 3,” he said at the time.
Good to see A.J. take care of the very afraid Mattias Ekholm tonight!
Dirty dirty dirty Edmonton. Imagine the uproar if the Panthers had engaged in those tactics. @feel the teardrops would be calling for the absolution of the franchise.
Meant dissolution.
Oilers a team of Slashers. Absolutely sickening
@emt126 – LOL! Florida is the dirtiest, head-hunting, & cheap shot team in the league. Every series with them constantly consist of massive brawls. It’s ridiculous. They intentionally try to hurt the opponent every chance they get. Florida fans are the last fanbase to cry about other teams when they have the dirtiest lowball team in the league. What they get away with is asinine. They are an embarrassment to the league, just thugs on ice & the NHL allows this unprofessional nonsense.
Two more wins and we are going to see an epic meltdown from @ feel the teardrops. I can’t wait. Dude ( maybe a chick IDK. He kind of acts like a chick) needs to get over it. Maybe instead of fixating on the so called dirty tactics of the Panthers he should maybe expect the GM of his team to get players that are not so soft.