TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES Brandon Saad and Pavel Buchnevich scored for the Blues on Thursday to help the team to a 2-2 tie in the third period, but the Tampa Bay Lightning scored two more in the third period to pull away for a 4-2 victory at Amalie Arena.
The teams ended up splitting their home-and-home series, with St. Louis winning 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday night at Enterprise Center.
The Blues are currently facing some heavy adversity as David Perron remains out with an upper-body injury and Jordan Binnington, Justin Faulk and Tyler Bozak are all in COVID-19 protocols.
"It's crazy, but that's what this year's been," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said after Thursday's game. "It's unfortunate, it's out of our control, but we could have won that game tonight. We've got to stick with it, we've got a tough test coming up [against Florida on Saturday]."
The Blues and Panthers will now begin a home-and-home set, with the Blues visiting Sunrise on Saturday before returning home to host Florida on Tuesday night at Enterprise Center.
PANTHERS The Buffalo Sabres jumped out to a 4-1 lead at FLA Live Arena on Thursday night before the Florida Panthers scored six unanswered goals en route to a 7-4 win.
Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and four assists, Sam Reinhart had a goal and three assists, and Aaron Ekblad contributed two goals and an assist in the win. It was the second consecutive game in which Florida has come back from a three-goal deficit to earn a victory.
The Panthers are 16-4-3 this season and sit in first place overall in the League with 35 points as of Friday afternoon.
At home, the Panthers have won 13 of 14 games this season.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues have won two of their last three games against the Panthers and six of their last seven trips to Sunrise, including a 3-2 victory in their most recent visit on Feb. 5, 2019.
Ryan O'Reilly has 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in 23 career games against Florida, while Vladimir Tarasenko has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 12 career games against the Panthers.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Pavel Buchnevich, who has a five-game point streak (five goals, three assists) entering Saturday's game.
PANTHERS Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Panthers with 28 points in 23 games, collecting eight goals and 20 assists this season.
If you want to defeat the Florida Panthers, don't you dare take a three-goal lead against them.
That doesn't seem to make sense, but that's the way it played out for the Panthers in their past two games.
On Saturday afternoon, the Panthers -- alias the Comeback Cats -- will try to make it three straight wins when they play host to the St. Louis Blues in Sunrise, Fla.
The nickname fits after the Panthers fell behind the Washington Capitals 4-1 in Tuesday's third period ... only to win 5-4 in regulation. Then, on Thursday, the Panthers fell behind 4-1 in the second period before scoring six straight goals in a remarkable 7-4 victory.
"There's a belief in our room that we're never out of the fight," Panthers winger Ryan Lomberg said. "We just keep our foot on the gas."
Saturday's contest is the last of Florida's four-game homestand. It will also complete a string of eight home contests in a span of nine overall games.
Florida leads the NHL in home wins and has the league's best overall record in their arena at 13-1-0.
The Panthers also have perhaps the most explosive offense in the NHL, ranking second in the league in goals per game (3.87). Even without a pair of injured top-six forwards -- center and captain Aleksander Barkov and speedy winger Anthony Duclair -- the Panthers are still potent.
Against Buffalo, for example, Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau had one goal and four assists. Teammate Sam Reinhart was almost as good with one goal and three assists, and defenseman Aaron Ekblad and rookie Anton Lundell had two goals each.
For the season, Huberdeau leads the Panthers in points (28) and assists (20). Ekblad is second in assists (15) and points (23).
The Blues and Panthers have yet to play each other this season, but they will get to know each other better soon. After Saturday's game in Florida, the teams will get a rematch on Tuesday in St. Louis.
Blues coach Craig Berube went with backup goalie Ville Husso in Thursday's 4-2 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning after No. 1 netminder Jordan Binnington entered the league's COVID-19 protocols. Husso made 31 saves.
Binnington, who has played all but five of the Blues' games this season, is 8-5-3 with a 2.80 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
Offensively, the Blues are led by three forwards with nine goals each: Brandon Saad, Pavel Buchnevich and Jordan Kyrou.
Robert Thomas is St. Louis' top facilitator with a team-high 20 assists, including two against Tampa Bay.
On the power play, Thomas leads St. Louis with seven assists, and Saad and Buchnevich lead with four goals.
In fact, the Blues went 2-for-4 with the man advantage on Thursday. The Blues are second-best in the NHL this season in power-play scores (30.8 percent). They are also tied for fourth with three short-handed goals.
Overall this season, the Blues are seventh in the league in scoring with 3.26 goals per game.
