Florida Panthers Leave Snow Behind, Finally Back Home

A long road trip for the Florida Panthers got a little longer Thursday thanks to a big snowstorm that snarled air traffic in Minnesota.

The Panthers eventually got up in the air.

They have thawed out by now.

Florida went 3-2-0 on its five-game western road trip which ended with consecutive wins in Edmonton and Minnesota.

The team was gone 11 days but are back on home ice tonight to face the St. Louis Blues.

Florida will play two of its final three games before the holiday break at home.

After tonight, the Panthers have a home-and-home with the Lightning.

The road trip, now that it is done, should be considered a success even though the Panthers got shutout in each of their two losses.

Florida did play without two of their top centers in three of the games: Sasha Barkov missed two games due to illness, and Sam Bennett was out Wednesday against the Wild.

But the Panthers got back on their game and came back to beat the Oilers 6-5 before routing the Wild 6-1.

Florida will play a St. Louis team which lost 3-1 to the Lightning on Thursday night.

The Blues have lost four of their past five games.

Although this is St. Louis’ first and only trip to Sunrise this season, this will be the second trip for coach Jim Montgomery.

The former Boston coach was hired by the Blues last month.

ON DECK: GAME No. 34

ST. LOUIS BLUES AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Friday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• This Season — At Florida: Friday. At St. Louis: Feb. 6.
• Last Season: Even 1-1
• All-time Regular Season Series: St. Louis leads 27-13-1, 3 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Sunday at Tampa Bay Lightning, 5 p.m.