This was a turbocharged crowd that locked in for the final regular season match-up between two great division rivals from the moment the puck dropped. The fans welcomed back trade-deadline reacquisition Nazem Kadri, of the '22 Cup team, like he was Peter Forsberg, and they went nuts just for a backchecking dispossession he pulled off early in the game.
Florida started the trek north with a 2-1 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Matthew Tkachuk set up Sam Bennett's seond period one-timer to collect his first point of the season. Daniil Tarasov made 17 saves to get the Cats to the shootout, where Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart made quick work of Connor Hellebuyck, keeping the Panthers within five points of a playoff spot.
