Category: Sports News

The Florida Panthers will look to run their season-long winning streak to five games when they complete the second leg of a back-to-back set on Saturday in Sunrise.

Fresh off Friday night’s exhilarating comeback victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida will welcome the St. Louis Blues for their only visit to Amerant Bank Arena this season.

The Panthers have been playing some solid hockey over the past several weeks, and the results are showing in the standings.

Entering play Saturday, Florida had risen all the way to second place in the Atlantic Division, their 19-13-2 record good for 40 points.

There are actually three teams with 40 points in the division, but Florida has more regulation wins (16) than both Montreal (11) and Boston (14), and the Carts have also played one less game than the Bruins and the same amount as the Canadiens.

That’s what happens when you win four straight games and seven of eight in an extremely tightly packed Eastern Conference.

Now they’ll try to keep the good times rolling when they face former Bruins coach Jim Montgomery and the Blues.

To this point, the season has been a struggle for St. Louis.

The Blues have yet to recover from a 3-7-2 start, currently holding a 13-15-8 mark that has them three points back of San Jose for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

St. Louis arrives in South Florida with points in two straight (1-0-1) but only two wins over their past six games overall.

In goal, the expected matchup will be Joel Hofer for the Blues and Daniil Tarasov for Florida.

Hofer has received the bulk of the work for St. Louis of late, including each of their past two wins, while on the Florida side, starter Sergei Bobrovsky was in goal for the Cats’ epic comeback on Friday so it makes sense that Tarasov would get the nod on the second night of a back-to-back.

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Saturday’s battle with the Blues:

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand

Mackie Samoskevich – Evan Rodrigues – A.J. Greer

Jesper Boqvist – Noah Gregor – Luke Kunin

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones

Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry

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Photo caption: Dec 17, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Noah Gregor (18) celebrates with goaltender Daniil Tarasov (40) after the game against the Los Angeles Kings at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

The Philadelphia Flyers have made a roster move ahead of their Dec. 20 contest against the New York Rangers. 

The Flyers have announced that they have recalled goaltender Aleksei Kolosov from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, under emergency conditions. 

The Flyers calling up Kolosov is in response to goaltender Dan Vladar being out due to an upper-body injury. The Flyers announced that Vladar is currently considered day-to-day with his injury. 

Kolosov has made two appearances for the Flyers this season, where he has a 0-1-0 record, a .929 save percentage, and a 1.62 goals-against average. This is after he posted a 5-9-1 record, a .867 save percentage, and a 3.59 goals-against average in his first 17 NHL games this past season with the Flyers. 

Down in the AHL this season with the Phantoms, Kolosov has posted a 6-8-1 record, a .900 save percentage, a 2.77 goals-against average, and one shutout in 15 games. This is after he had a 5-6-1 record, a .884 save percentage, and a 3.11 goals-against average in 12 games for the Phantoms this past season. 

Kolosov was selected by the Flyers with the 78th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. 

On Friday night, the Los Angeles Kings moved on from center Phillip Danault in return for a second-round pick from the Montreal Canadiens, which the Columbus Blue Jackets own.

While it seems like the team and player were heading in this direction, this move by the Kings' GM, Ken Holland, may put them in a tough spot as soon as next season.

Danault wasn't all that effective this year. In 30 games, he had just five assists to show for it, with no goals and an average of 16:19 of ice time per game.

For the remainder of this campaign, the Kings should be able to hold down the fort to some degree with Anze Kopitar, Quinton Byfield, Alex Turcotte and Samuel Helenius down the middle.

However, with Kopitar retiring at the end of the season, they'll be thin at the center position if Holland doesn't add at some point, or if the Kings grow internally.

In a perfect world, Los Angeles would love to see Byfield become a true No. 1 center and for Turcotte, the fifth overall pick of the 2019 draft, to elevate into a top-six role. But the truth is, there's no certainty in that plan.

Breaching the Surface: Alex Turcotte and the Phillip Danault DilemmaTAMPA BAY, FL – In a place that has been a house of horrors for the Los Angeles Kings, the team was able to squeeze out a 2-1 win in sixty minutes of play, no more, no less, at Amalie Arena. For anyone following closely, that was the 23rd game this season for the Kings in which the game was decided by just one goal. Scaling down, it was also the fourth consecutive game the Kings were without defensive linchpin Phillip Danault, who has been battling the flu. In those four games, the Kings have been outscored at even strength 8-4.

Furthermore, Byfield and Turcotte's production this season hasn't proved that they're both ready for a heavier workload.

In addition, the Kings are in a mode to compete for the playoffs, with an intention of getting past the first round for the first time since they won their second-ever Stanley Cup in 2014. 

Shipping Danault to Montreal for a second-round pick doesn't feel like a move for a contending team, unless there is a plan to pivot off that trade. 

Holland has the assets to play with to look for another boost on the roster. 

With Danault's $5.5-million cap hit off the books, Los Angeles has $9.3 million in salary cap space. With that, the Kings have three first-round picks and four second-round picks for the next three drafts.

While Holland has suitable assets in his pocket, it won't be very simple to acquire a notable center in the trade market. 

Report: Three Kings Scouts Take In Maple Leafs and Blackhawks, Looking For Scoring WingerThe Fourth Period has reported that the Los Angeles Kings had three scouts watching the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Who could the Kings be looking at in terms of a scoring winger?

Danault, in the slow season he's had, and a relatively high cap hit in relation to his role, earned the Kings a second-rounder. That could be looked at as an overpay by the Canadiens.

That trade proves how middle-six centers are not easy to come by, and if they do become available, they come at a high price.

There are several questions surrounding the Kings' lineup after the changes that were made. Those questions could be answered over the next little while of action, whether the holes are effectively filled internally, or a run of poor performances that requires Holland to make an aggressive move.

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In a recent article for The Athletic, Jeremy Rutherford and Chris Johnston looked at eight St. Louis Blues who could be traded, with the Central Division club being open to making moves. One of the players discussed was forward Jake Neighbours. 

In the article, the Pittsburgh Penguins were named as a team that could have interest in Neighbours. 

If the Blues end up making Neighbours available for trade, it would make a lot of sense for the Penguins to make a push for him. At 23 years old, he would have the potential to be an excellent long-term fit on a retooling team on the Penguins. Furthermore, he would also help them immediately, which would be a good thing when noting that Pittsburgh is still in the playoff race even with their recent struggles. 

In 24 games so far this season with the Blues, Neighbours has recorded eight goals, seven assists, 15 points, and 64 hits. This is after he had 22 goals, 46 points, and 173 hits in 82 games this past season with the Blues. With numbers like these, he would give the Penguins an impactful power forward to work with in their top nine if acquired.

It will be interesting to see if the Penguins end up making a push for Neighbours, but the fit looks good on paper.