A lineup change, Stolarz in net and more ahead of Florida Panthers-Islanders

Steven Lorentz will return to the Florida Panthers lineup when they begin a three-game homestand against the New York Islanders on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena.

Lorentz will fill in for forward Jonah Gadjovich, who Panthers coach Paul Maurice said is day-to-day with a minor upper-body injury.

Lorentz, who the Panthers acquired over the offseason in a trade with the San Jose Sharks for Anthony Duclair, last played on Nov. 22 in the Panthers’ 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins. He has been a healthy scratch in the past four games and five of the past seven since Gadjovich made his debut on Nov. 17.

The 27-year-old has three points on the season (one goal, two assists) and is slated to play left wing on Florida’s fourth line with Kevin Stenlund at center and Ryan Lomberg at right wing.

“He’s earned it,” Maurice said of Lorentz returning to the lineup. “I felt the same way kind of almost when I took [defenseman] Dmitry Kulikov out. He didn’t really deserve to come out and that was true of Lorentz, too, but we had signed Gadjovich. He had gone down to the American League. It was his time. If he was going to get into a game, it had to be then. I wanted lumber to look at Lomberg on the right. It was a bunch of things. It’s early in the year. There’s a lot you’ve got to learn. I thought that it worked well, but I was very pleased. Each game, it’s gotten stronger and stronger, but Steve didn’t deserve to come out so he’ll be hungry tonight.”

The rest of the lineup is expected to be the same.

Anthony Stolarz in net

The Panthers will go with goaltender Anthony Stolarz against the Islander.

Stolarz is coming off a 32-save effort in Florida’s shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday and overall is 3-1-1 with a 1.99 goals against average and .929 save percentage in five starts. He has allowed just one goal in each of his past two starts — the Toronto game on Tuesday and a 35-save performance at the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 17.

Josh Mahura update

Defenseman Josh Mahura remains on injured reserve but was in a normal, red jersey during the team’s morning skate on Saturday. He split time with Kulikov and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, both of whom are part of Florida’s third defensive pairing.

Maurice said he wants Mahura to get in a full practice with contact before getting into a game. The Panthers didn’t practice this week because of their three-game, four-day schedule in Canada.

“Before we get him cleared, I want to get him into something where there’s some body contact and you can test it,” Maurice said, “and then we’ll we’ll be looking at the early part of next week before we do that with.”

After the game against the Islanders, the Panthers play two more home games Wednesday against the Dallas Stars and Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Uvis Balinskis sent down

With the impending return of Mahura and the fact that he has been a scratch for six of the past seven games, the Panthers on Friday sent defensemen Uvis Balinskis to the Charlotte Checkers, their American Hockey League affiliate, so he can get everyday playing reps.

“He’s got to play games,” Maurice said. “I mean he’s interesting in that if he was 21, we might have said ‘Well he could have gone a week ago or two weeks ago because he needs pro games.’ He doesn’t really need pro games, but he just needs a rhythm. So I have a lot of faith in this guy. For me, he is a full time NHL player as is Josh. Right now, you have the luxury and then sometimes the challenges of managing these guys so we can get their best hockey, which means if we have an opportunity to play again in the American League, we’re gonna do that.”