Florida Panthers
A Blockbuster Day: Florida Panthers Win, Trade for Seth Jones
SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers had themselves what you could call an eventful Saturday, getting a win and making a huge trade.
Not long after Sergei Bobrovsky whitewashed Calgary 3-0 on Ryan Lomberg’s return to Sunrise, the Panthers traded backup Spencer Knight to the Chicago Blackhawks in a blockbuster deal for four-time All-Star Seth Jones.
Saturday started innocently enough as Florida celebrated Kids’ Day with a bunch of Panthers’ players lined up for the national anthems holding their little ones.
It was cute, and it was poignant.
But there was business, in more ways than one, at hand.
The win over Calgary allowed the Panthers to vault over Toronto, at least temporarily, for first place in the Atlantic Division.
The Leafs have two games in hand. They were off last night but visit the slumping Penguins tonight.
Calgary could have moved into a wild-card spot in the West had they won.
They did not come close.
The Flames received no southern hospitality in the Sunshine State, losing to Tampa Bay and Florida by identical 3-0 scores.
Calgary has not made the playoffs in three of the past four seasons.
Following the game, Paul Maurice acknowledged the importance of the game for both teams.
“They played hard; they battled on pucks,” he said of Calgary.
“They’re in a playoff fight, so, they played well. It was a good game to be good, and they needed to be.”
The second-period goal by Jonah Gadjovich was a welcome sight.
It was the fourth line’s first tally in eight games. At this point in the season, Maurice said depth is critical.
“It’s going to be playoff kind of games, so it’s not necessarily going to be the Barkovs every night,” Maurice said. “It’s a puck around the net, it’s kind of the hard goals. Teams will check each other. The guys who don’t necessarily put up a lot of points will become critical for everybody.”
Lomberg was appreciative of the tribute and fan reaction but was thinking more of the importance of the lost two points.
“Obviously it totally stings losing this one,” Lomberg said. “I wanted this one. I’m incredibly thankful and appreciative of all the fans out there cheering me on.”
Calgary coach Ryan Huska was not happy about the way his team played but also acknowledged Florida’ dogged pursuit.
“My gosh, they are a good team,” Huska said. “I just don’t like the way we came to play this game. I felt like we didn’t have any sort of speed or tempo to our game. Other than our goaltender [Dan Vladar, who made 39 saves], not too many other guys, I honestly think, would tell you that they were at their best today.”
The Panthers will have to be at their best when they play the Lightning Monday night.
Tampa Bay has won eight straight.
But the Panthers should have Bobrovsky in net — and Seth Jones now patrolling their blueline.
ON DECK: GAME No. 62
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING AT FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Monday, 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
- Season Series (Lightning Lead 1-0) — At Tampa Bay: Sunday; Ap. 15. At Florida: Lightning 4, Panthers 0 (Dec. 23); Monday.
- Last Regular Season: Panthers Won 2-1
- All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 77-52-19, 10 ties
- All-Time Postgame Series: Lightning Leads 2-1 (won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS); Florida d. Lightning 4-1 in 2024 first-round.
- Up Next for the Panthers: Thursday vs. Columbus Blue Jackets, 7 p.m.
