FHN Today: Florida Panthers Welcome The Canadiens — And Their Fans

The Florida Panthers game tonight in Sunrise is probably going to sound more like a road game.

Hey, that’s expected when the Montreal Canadiens come to town during the holidays — and one reason why the team makes sure the NHL schedules them during this time of the year.

Tickets are at a premium tonight and the biggest crowd of the season is expected surpassing the 17,531 announced for the Lightning back in October.

Get used to the cheering visitors as the New York Rangers are here on Jan. 1.

Florida is expected to have Sasha Barkov, Aaron Ekblad and Radko Gudas back in the lineup tonight.

Should be a fun atmosphere at Club FLA Live tonight.

FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW

Was Nico Hischier’s hit on Barkov a cheap shot?

The Florida captain talked about it.

— The Panthers are going to have a 27-year-old making his NHL debut tonight as last year’s Liiga scoring champion joins the team.

Anton Levtchi will be paired up with Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart tonight.

Should get Anton Stralman back and have him play with them.

— Check out Wednesday’s post-practice video from Barkov and coach Paul Maurice on the FHN YouTube Channel either by clicking the embedded videos below or click RIGHT HERE to see everything we’ve got up.

NATIONAL HOCKEY NOW

The Montreal Canadiens had all the “intensity of a bag of lawnmower clippings” last night as they got rolled by the Lightning.

I always hated bagging lawn clippings back in the day. Mulching them is the way to go.

— Jonathan Huberdeau was the hero as the Calgary Flames drop the Kraken.

— The Colorado Avalanche did not give the new leader of Colorado Hockey Now much to write about as it lost to the Coyotes.

— Fun story on the Washington Capitals as Charlie Lindgren spent Christmas in Minnesota with brother Ryan — with the two meeting up on the ice Tuesday night when the Caps faced the Rangers.

— The Vegas Golden Knights are free to make some moves again. And they need to.

— Tomas Nosek was out of the Boston Bruins lineup on Wednesday in Newark.

— The Detroit Red Wings have struggled coming out of the break the past couple of years — but they rallied from 4-0 down to beat the host Pittsburgh Penguins in OT on Wednesday.

PANTHERS ON DECK

MONTREAL CANADIENS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Thursday, 7 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: Florida won 3-1
• All-time regular season series: Florida leads 51-38-11, 6 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Dec. 30 at Carolina Hurricanes, 7:30 p.m.