FHN Today: Aaron Ekblad Hits Milestone for Florida Panthers

SUNRISE — Aaron Ekblad has been the most prolific scorer among defensemen in Florida Panthers history for some time now.

Ekblad passed Robert Svehla for most goals a while ago and in total points last season.

In Wednesday night’s 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins, he scored his 100th NHL goal by scoring the final marker into an empty net.

Now, that was rare.

“I don’t think I’ve ever scored an empty-net goal,” Ekblad said, “so it’s funny for that to happen now.”

Regardless, it was a nice win for the Panthers and a nice milestone for Ekblad.

The Panthers will be taking Thursday off and most of the players will be hanging out together to celebrate Thanksgiving.

The team will be back on the ice on what a lot of us honor as ‘Black Friday.’

There are a lot of great deals out there — but how about this one: If you have not yet subscribed to Florida Hockey Now, now is your chance to save a few bucks and help support independent, local coverage of your favorite tropical hockey team.

Our ‘Red Friday’ deal runs through the weekend and you will save 25 percent off an annual pass to FHN by clicking on the link below and using RED25 as the discount code.

Colby appreciates all of your support and you know I do as well.

RED Friday Special

Subscribe to FloridaHockeyNow for 25% Off Annual Membership

Just $22.50 for a Season Pass!  

Use RED25 in discount code

If you love seeing numerous daily stories about the Panthers, we would love if you joined us here at Florida Hockey Now for exclusives as well as member-only Mailbags.

The newest Mailbag is being worked on now, but there is still time to leave a question here in the messages and I will answer it and publish on Friday morning.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

By the way: We have a couple of exclusive stories on Anton Lundell and Spencer Knight coming on Friday.

By my math, that is three exclusives on Friday alone.

I know you’re going to enjoy them.

Trust me, they’re good.

FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW

The Panthers had themselves a time on Wednesday night as the power play continues its hot streak with three goals in a 5-2 win over the Bruins.

— Nice story in the Sun-Sentinel this morning on the game from a certain Associated Press reporter…

— Since the 2005-06 season, about 75 percent of the teams holding a playoff spot at Thanksgiving make the postseason.

As of right now, the Panthers are on the outside looking in.

Are you worried? They are not.

— Again, it is time for another Panthers Mailbag and you have until 6 p.m. tonight to get your questions in.

The full Mailbag will be published on Friday morning. Unless I decide to go to K-Mart or something.

— Speaking of special teams, did you know Eric Staal has transformed himself into a pretty good penalty killer for the Panthers?

Based off social media reactions, seems like many of you do not.

— Another fun perk of FHN is our YouTube Channel.

We have a ton of postgame reactions from Wednesday night’s win including Paul Maurice, Ekblad, Sasha Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk.

Check them out RIGHT HERE or just click on the videos below and enjoy them at your leisure.

NATIONAL HOCKEY NOW

The Boston Bruins have had a pretty good penalty kill this season but the Panthers got ‘em on Wednesday night.

— The Pittsburgh Penguins had a really nice ceremony to celebrate Evgeni Malkin’s 1,000th NHL game and it made him a little emotional.

— The Detroit Red Wings continued their nice start by beating the Preds on Wednesday.

— The Washington Capitals end a losing streak by beating the Flyers.

— Speaking of the Philadelphia Flyers, the losing streak continues.

— The Vegas Golden Knights keep rolling, bury the Sens.

— Samuel Montembeault is terrific, helps the Montreal Canadiens beat the Jackets.

— The Dallas Stars have a big comeback, beat the Blackhawks.

PANTHERS ON DECK

ST. LOUIS BLUES AT FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
• Where: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise 
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
• Last season: Split 1-1
  
• All-time regular season series: St. Louis leads 24-12-1, 3 ties