Blues Slip By Panthers

     The Florida Panthers had a one-game road trip and were edged by the St. Louis Blues 5-4 on Thursday night at Enterprise Center. The Panthers concluded over a three-week stretch in which they played 10 of their last 12 games on the road. The Blues entered the contest with the second-worst record in the NHL. 

     Florida(28-22-3) scooted out to a 1-0 lead at the 3:12 mark of the first period. A.J. Greer chalked up his 11th goal of the year on a wrist shot from the crease area by Joel Hofer. 

     St. Louis(20-25-9) responded back at 4:46 of the period to tie it up1-1. Jake Neighbours placed in a snap shot in the high slot for his 13th goal of the campaign.

     The Blues moved in front 2-1 at 7:51 of the first. Jordan Kyrou put in his 12th goal of the season on a wrist shot from the inner left circle. 

     The Panthers evened it up 2-2 on the power play at 9:52 of the opening frame. Sam Reinhart got his 27th goal this season on a forehand shot from the low slot. 

      It became 3-2 for St. Louis with 5:33 left in the first. They picked up a tally from Jonatan Berggren as he snapped a shot from the inner right circle. 

     In the second period, the Blues expanded their lead to 4-2 at 41 seconds. Oskar Sundqvist found the net for the fourth time this year when he released a shot from the high slot. 

     The Cats would get two goals to tie it 4-4. Mathew Tkachuk scored his first goal of the season on a backhand shot from the right of the crease with 3:08 to go and his second goal this year from the top of the crease while on the power play with 1:21 remaining in the second.

     St. Louis took a 5-4 lead on a power-play goal with 8.4 seconds left in the third period. Pavel Buchnevich fed a cross-ice pass from the right wing and Jimmy Snuggerud one-time a shot from the left circle past Daniil Tarasov for his eighth goal in 2025-26.