Dmitry Kulikov is expected to play Thursday night after he was a healthy scratch on Tuesday. He spoke with interim coach Peter Horachek before Wednesday's practice. "He needs to be assertive and confident; he needs to open his eyes and not look like somebody kicked his dog," the Panthers bench boss said. "You can't play hockey that way. You can't go to work that way. You shouldn't go home that way." He's had a difficult start to the 2013-14 campaign.