TAMPA – The Florida Panthers officially start to ramp up for the regular season when they face-off against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena on Thursday.

After leaning on mostly prospects during the first five games of the preseason, the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions will now deploy mostly veterans for the final two exhibitions.

Tonight, their lineup will be essentially what fans could see in the season opener on Oct. 7.

“This will be the lineup that if we were starting today, it’d be,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “We’ll make adjustments to Saturday night’s game [against the Lightning in Sunrise]. … This is a little different this year. All the guys from last year, all the veterans, are only going to get two exhibition games, but this is the way it’s going

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