Spencer Knight is Back with the Florida Panthers

FORT LAUDERDALE — Spencer Knight is back with the Florida Panthers.

Knight, 23, spent the entire season with the AHL Charlotte Checkers. He was 25-14-5 with a .905 save percentage and a 2.41 goals-against average in 45 games.

He started two games in the playoffs, going 1-1 with a .925 save percentage and a 1.87 goals-against average before Charlotte dropped its best of three series with the Hartford Wolfpack last week.

Magnus Hellberg started the decisive Game 3.

Knight, the first-round pick of the Panthers in 2019, left the team last season after being admitted into the NHL’s player assistance program due to a battle with OCD.

“It was refreshing just to be able to play,” Knight told CharlotteCheckers.com of his season.

“To me, that was honestly the highlight — just playing. That’s the one thing I didn’t take for granted this year, being able to be on the ice and play. It was fun. It was great.”

Knight was named the winner of the AHL’s Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award — an honor voted on by coaches, players and media members and given to the AHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey.

“I’m just kind of on my own path,” Knight said. “It’s obviously nice to see. I hope I can serve as an inspiration a little bit, but I’m probably not going to be the last person that has to go through something hard.”

As of Thursday afternoon, the Panthers had not officially called up any other players from Charlotte.

Knight is officially listed on Florida’s playoff roster and will likely serve as the team’s third-string goalie behind Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz throughout the playoffs.

Evan Cormier is also part of Florida’s goalie team.

Stolarz had a scare in practice on Thursday after he was slow to get up after taking a shot down low but he returned to practice unscathed.

Maurice said that the shot hit him in an unmentionable area and stunned him for a bit.

Stolarz, after some laughs from his teammates, returned and finished practice.

This is a developing story which will be updated when new information becomes available.

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STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

FLORIDA PANTHERS (ATL1) V. BOSTON (A2)/TORONTO (A3)

BEST-OF-7 SERIES

GAME 1

• When: TBA
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise 
• National TV/Streaming: Warner Sports (TNT/TBS) or Disney (ESPN/ABC)
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• First Round (Panthers Won 4-1) — Game 1: Panthers 3, Tampa Bay 2; Game 2: Florida 3, Tampa Bay 2 OT; Game 3: Panthers 5, Tampa Bay 3; Game 4: Tampa Bay 6, Panthers 3; Game 5: Panthers 6, Tampa Bay 1.
• + VS. BOSTON
• Last Season — Regular Season: Tied 2-2; Playoffs: Florida won 4-3 (first-round)
• This season (Bruins 4-0) — At Boston: Bruins 3, Panthers 2 OT (Oct.30); Bruins 3, Panthers 2 OT (Ap. 6). At Florida: Bruins 3, Panthers 1 (Nov. 22); Bruins 4, Panthers 3 (March 26).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Boston leads 64-37-7, 6 ties
• All-time Postseason Series: Florida leads 2-0 (1996, 2023)
• + VS. TORONTO
• This Season (Tied 2-2) — At Florida: Panthers 3, Leafs 1 (Oct. 19); Panthers 5, Leafs 2 (Ap. 16). At Toronto: Leafs 2, Panthers 1 (Nov. 28); Leafs 6, Panthers 4 (April 1).
• Last Season — Regular Season: Toronto won 3-1; Playoffs:Florida won 4-1 (EC semifinals)
  
• All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 50-38-7, 7 ties