Florida Panthers give Spencer Knight plenty of support in NHL debut

Spencer Knight had to love the goal support he got in his NHL debut Tuesday night with the Florida Panthers.

In fact, the first two goals came so fast public address announcer Andrew Imber did them consecutively.

The Panthers used that big cat roar clip so much Tuesday it felt like a Janet Jackson concert.

Within a span of 14 seconds, Florida got goals from Sasha Barkov and Sam Bennett then scored three in the second as it rolled to a 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in Sunrise.

Knight, playing in his first pro game, handled things as well as anyone could have expected given his resume. Knight was not spectacular. He did not need to be.

Jonathan Huberdeau said based on Knight’s pregame demeanor, one would not have guessed it was his first NHL game.

“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be,” Knight said. “The guys did a really good job and I was just trying to play hockey. It’s just hockey. But this is a great league, it’s so good.”