FHN Today: Florida Panthers Chill Out in Wyoming

The Florida Panthers had a couple of days to kill before playing the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.

They could have stayed in Seattle an extra day, flew to Winnipeg early — or enjoy the crisp mountain air in Wyoming.

They also could have gone to Vegas for a day, but whatever.

Wyoming looks nice, too.

The Panthers landed in Jackson Hole on Sunday morning for a day off in the scenic Rocky Mountains.

The team is going to have some fun today with an afternoon practice scheduled at the Snow King Sports and Event Center before flying to Manitoba.

Practice is open to the public, so if you’re in the neighborhood…

Off day things. Greetings from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. @HeyRedDeer pic.twitter.com/kX5NjbsrKF

— Katie Engleson (@KatieEngleson) December 5, 2022

FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW

Paul Maurice wanted one of his goalies to take the net and run with it and Spencer Knight has certainly done so, starting nine of the team’s past 13 games.

While nothing has been announced, you have to assume he will start on Tuesday as well.

Knight has been terrific and we can call him Florida’s starting goalie. But is a permanent gig? I don’t think it is. Sergei Bobrovsky is going to get his shot again — but he is going to have to earn it.

— We should know a lot more later this afternoon, but if the Panthers were to be without Radko Gudas and/or Patric Hornqvist on Tuesday, they would be forced to play shorthanded due to the salary cap situation.

Why? It’s complicated.

Florida did bring up Chris Tierney from Charlotte in case Anton Lundell cannot go.

UPDATE: Hornqvist is going on LTIR to clear a big chunk of his $5.3 million cap hit.

— Although the Panthers were shorthanded, they certainly did not look like it against the Kraken as they took a 3-1 lead into the third.

Carter Verhaeghe scored two goals, Sam Bennett had three assists and the power play went 3-for-4. It was a good stay in Seattle for the Panthers.

— Catch up on all the FHN stories from the past week with the Florida Panthers Wrap.

— The Panthers took Sunday off, but the postgame video from Saturday night’s win in Seattle is on the FHN YouTube Channel featured Maurice, Knight, Carter Verhaeghe and Marc Staal.

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

NATIONAL HOCKEY NOW

Bruce Cassidy was back in the Garden for the first time since being fired by the Boston Bruins.

The first thing he did when he went out into the arena was go to his old spot on the home bench to look around.

Cassidy has a lot of good memories from his time in Boston.

— If the Detroit Red Wings want to be a playoff team, they need to take care of teams like Columbus. Which they did on Sunday night at Nationwide.

— The Pittsburgh Penguins played a clean game Sunday as they blew out the Blues at PPG.

— The Philadelphia Flyers did not do enough to help out Carter Hart in a loss to the Devils.

PANTHERS ON DECK

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT WINNIPEG JETS

• When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Canada Life Center; Winnipeg, Manitoba
• TV: 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: Florida won 2-0
• All-time regular season series: Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets lead 50-31-8, 5 ties