Isn’t it funny how much things can change in a relatively short amount of time?
It wasn’t that long ago when the Florida Panthers were struggling to come up with any kind of consistent success when playing away from home.
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Lately, it’s been quite the opposite.
Over the past several weeks, all but two of the Panthers most recent 11 games have come outside of South Florida.
Not to worry, though, as the Cats enter play on Thursday having won six of their past seven games on the road, including all three on last week’s trip that featured stops in Winnipeg, Minnesota and Chicago.
Now the Panthers will look to make it four straight road wins when they visit the St. Louis Blues.
The Blues started the month with a pair of wins and were just one game below .500 when the wheels started falling off.
Since Jan. 7, St. Louis has lost eight of their 10 games, including each of the past five.
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Entering play Thursday, there is only one team in the NHL that has fewer points in the standings than the Blues’ 47, and that’s the Vancouver Canucks with 39.
Florida, meanwhile, still has a bit of work to do if they want to climb back into a playoff spot.
Currently, the Cats are six points behind the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins, who hold the two Eastern Conference Wild Card spots, and the Buffalo Sabres, who sits third in the Atlantic Division, all with 65 points.
Florida has two games in hand on Boston, one on Montreal and the same amount of games played as Buffalo.
One thing that may help the Panthers pick up two points on Thursday would be a big night from star forward Matthew Tkachuk.
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It’s been ten days since Tkachuk made his season debut last Monday against San Jose. During that time he’s racked up three assists, 11 shots on goal, eight penalty minutes and a minus-3 on-ice rating while averaging 18:37 of playing time.
Perhaps returning to his hometown will provide a nice boost for the gritty forward.
It’s certainly worked in the past.
During his career, Tkachuk has played 15 games back in St. Louis.
He’s accumulated an impressive nine goals and 26 points when playing in the Blues’ barn, but he’s really taken it up a notch in the three visits since joining the Panthers.
Before he was traded to Florida, Tkachuk had four goals and 17 points in 12 games in St. Louis.
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Not bad at all.
In the three games he’s played in St. Louis while wearing a Panthers sweater, Tkachuk has an eye-popping five goals and nine points.
Needless to say, if you’re into hockey props, it may be a good night to lean on ol’ Chucky.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Thursday’s matchup with the Blues:
Carter Verhaeghe – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Cole Schwindt – Sandis Vilmanis
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Uvis Balinskis
Tobias Bjornfot – Jeff Petry
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Photo caption: Feb 6, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) looks on during the first period against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center. (Jeff Curry-Imagn Images)
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