FHN Today: Florida Panthers Welcome Senators to Sunrise

SUNRISE — While we are all sick of the political ads running nonstop on television leading up to the midterm elections, Saturday brings some entertaining Senators to town as Ottawa visits the Florida Panthers.

While there will be no political ads at FLA Live Arena when the two hit the ice this afternoon, we cannot promise as much if you decide to watch the game on television.

In fact, we’ll almost guarantee you will be subjected to more than one.

This will be the last time fans will have a chance to see the Panthers in person for a bit as the team will not be back in Sunrise until Carolina comes to town on Nov. 9.

The Panthers start a four-game western swing Tuesday night in Tempe against the Coyotes.

Ottawa comes to town following a 4-2 loss Thursday to the Wild — a loss that snapped a four-game winning streak.

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According to our pal Bruce Garrioch at the Ottawa Sun, Ottawa (4-3-0) was attempting to sweep its first five-game homestand in franchise history before losing to Minnesota.

There are a couple of nice storylines to this game.

First you have the Tkachuk reunion between Brady and Matthew as well as the return to Sunrise of one Claude Giroux, who had three goals and 23 points in 20 games with the Panthers following last season’s blockbuster deal with the Flyers.

Giroux left the Panthers as a free agent — they didn’t have any money to bring him back anyway — when he signed a three-year deal with his hometown Senators.

As for the political ads, the good news is they’ll be gone in a couple of days.

The bad news: They’ll be back soon.

FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW

With the Florida Panthers losing their past two games, we asked for your takes on the team — and then graded them.

Seems like some of you are pretty upset with this start.

— Carter Hart was the difference as the Flyers beat the Panthers on Thursday night.

— We have a special guest on the FHN YouTube Channel as Roberto Luongo spoke with the media ahead of next month’s Hall of Fame ceremony.

We will have postgame video later today.

Check out the FHN YouTube Channel RIGHT HERE or click on the video below.

NATIONAL HOCKEY NOW

The Detroit Red Wings will be without Michael Rasmussen after he was suspended two games for high-sticking Boston’s David Krejci on Thursday night.

Rasmussen will miss today’s game against Minnesota. Oskar Sundqvist, who plays on the top line with Rasmussen, is out with an injury.

— Josh Bailey played in his 1,000th NHL game — all with the New York Islanders.

— The Montreal Canadiens could have some trade options moving forward.

— Jake Guentzel of the Pittsburgh Penguins has been cleared for contact but did not play Friday against the Canucks.

PANTHERS ON DECK

OTTAWA SENATORS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Saturday, 4 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: Ottawa leads 56-42-5, 3 ties