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.
