Colton Sceviour Put On Waivers

     Former Florida Panthers right wing Colton Sceviour has been put on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was acquired by the Penguins from Florida with Mike Matheson for Patric Hornqvist during the offseason. Sceviour has two goals in 12 games with the Pens this year. 

     He spent four seasons with the Panthers from 2016 to 2020. Sceviour had 31 goals and 48 assists in 284 games with Florida. 

Hurricanes Move Through Panthers

     The Florida Panthers lost to the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 at PNC Arena on Sunday. Keith Yandle of the Panthers played in his 1,000th game in the National Hockey League. 

     The Panthers lost in regulation for just the fifth time during the regular season. The Hurricanes extended their winning streak to five games and jumped over the Panthers for second place in the Central Division.  

     In the first period, Carolina(17-6-1) moved ahead 1-0 on the power play with 4:05 remaining. Dougie Hamilton angled a pass from the blue line to Andrei Svechnikov on the left point. He connected a pass to the left of the crease and Vincent Trocheck put in a wrist shot by Chris Driedger for his 13th goal this season. Trocheck got his fourth goal this year against his former team and now has a five-game point streak. 

     The Hurricanes made it 2-0 at 4:52 of the second period. Martin Necas carried the puck through the neutral zone and into the high slot. His outlet pass went to Nino Niederreiter on the left-circle dot and he snapped a shot from the left wing for his 11th goal of the campaign. Niederreiter scored in his second straight contest while Necas expanded his assist and point streak to four games. 

     Florida(15-5-4) cut the lead to 2-1 with 9:19 to go in the second. Noel Acciari won a right-circle faceoff and MacKenzie Weegar blasted a slap shot from above the right circle past James Reimer. It was Weegar's first goal in the last nine games. 

     The Canes were able to get a shorthanded goal just 38 seconds into the third period. Jaccob Slavin forwarded a lead pass from the Carolina goal line to Jordan Martinook at the Panthers blue line for a 2-on-1 break. He backhanded it from the right circle to the high slot and Sebastian Aho released a wrist shot for his ninth goal this season. 

     It became a two-goal margin again for Carolina at the 3:41 mark with the man advantage. Brock McGinn made a clearing pass from his own zone. Warren Foegele brought the puck in on a breakaway and scored with a forehand shot from the left of the crease. 

     The Panthers chopped it down to 4-2 at 9:09 of the third. Alekander Barkov was on the left point and passed to Jonathan Huberdeau. He dashed to the low left circle, centered it and Mason Marchment roofed a wrist shot into a wide-open net from the right of the crease for his second NHL goal. Bavkov increased his point streak to six games. Huberdeau placed his point streak to three games with two goals and three assists during that span.     

Acciari Hat Trick And Panthers Sweep Predators

     Noel Acciari compiled a hat trick as the Florida Panthers overtook the Nashville Predators 6-2 on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena. Acciari scored at least three games in an NHL game for the third time in his career and his second time against the Predators. It was the second contest of a two-game set between both clubs. 

     Nashville(10-14-0) converted on the power play to go up 1-0 at 5:46 of the first period. Romani Josi tapped the puck from the right point and Filip Forsberg made a cross-ice pass. Eeli Tolvanen smashed a slap shot from the top left circle by Sergei Bobrovsky for his fourth goal this year. 

     Florida (15-4-4) evened it up 1-1 with 12.6 second left in the first. Roman Josi lifted a backhand in the neutral zone and Aaron Ekblad caught it at the red line. He brought the puck into the Nashville zone 

and snapped a rising shot from above the right circle past Pekka Rinne for his ninth goal of the season. 

     The Panthers pulled ahead 2-1 at the 1:15 of the second period. Jonathan Huberdeau scored his 10th goal this season on assists from Patric Hornqvist and Radko Gudas. Huberdeau passed Scott Mellanby for third all-time in Panthers franchise history with his 158th career goal. He collected his third goal in the last five games while Gudas got his first point in nine contests. Hornqvist was able to collect his 500th NHL point. 

     It became a two-goal margin  for the Cats with 8:44 remaining in the frame. Acciari put in his first goal of the campaign on a snap shot from the right circle after carrying the puck from the neutral zone. Ekblad was credited with an assist on the play for a multi-point game and his sixth point in the past two games. 

     Florida made it 4-1 with 1:14 to go in the second with another tally by Acciari on a backhand shot from the left of the crease. Keith Yandle initiated the play with a slap shot from the red line and picked up his 12th assist this year. 

     In the third period, the Predators attempted to make a comeback. It started well as Viktor Arvidsson found the net just 19 seconds in and closed the gap to 4-2. 

     The Panthers expanded their lead to 5-2 with 5:04 left in the third. Aleksander Barkov stole the puck in the left circle of the Predators zone. He dropped it off and Frank Vatrano scored his eighth goal of the season from the slot area on  a forehand shot. Barkov expanded his point streak up to a season-high five games. 

     Acciari completed the hat trick with his third goal of the contest with 3:02 remaining on a backhand shot from the low slot. Yandle and Huberdeau both got multi-point games with their assists on the tally. Rinne was in net for the Preds during two NHL hat tricks by Acciari. 

Justin Bour Signs With Giants

     Former Miami Marlins first baseman Justin Bour has signed with the San Francisco Giants. Bour surprisingly will not be invited to the Giants spring training camp and will begin in the minor leagues on April 1. He spent last season with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan. 

     Bour played five seasons with Marlins from 2014 until 2018. He had 83 home runs and 382 runs batted in during his 478 games with Miami. 

Dwyane Wade Works NBA All-Star Game

     Former Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade will work as a TNT studio analyst for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta on Sunday. He will substitute for Charles Barkley on the Inside The NBA panel. 

     Wade won three NBA titles with the Miami Heat in 2006, 2012 and 2013. He played 15 seasons with the Heat from 2003 until 2019. 

     Barkley will miss the NBA All-Star Game weekend for just the second time since he joined Inside The NBA due to his daughter's wedding. He has been a studio analyst since 2000. 

Heat Run By Pelicans

     The Miami Heat defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 103-93 on Thursday night at Smoothie King Center. It was the final game for the Heat and Pelicans prior to the NBA All-Star Game break. 

     Miami(18-18) rocketed out to a 31-15 lead at the end of the first quarter and stayed ahead 55-45 by halftime. New Orleans(15-21) cut slightly into the deficit and were down 77-70 after three quarters. The Heat had a 12-3 spurt late in the final quarter. 

     Jimmy Butler fell short of a double-double with 29 points and nine assists for Miami. Kelly Olynyk had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Goran Dragic and Kendrick Nunn both had 13 points each. 

     Brandon Ingram also was short of a double-double for the Pelicans with 17 points and nine assists. Steven Adams poured in 15 points while Nickeil Alexander-Walker contributed 13 points. 

Panthers Roll By Predators

     The Florida Panthers beat the Nashville Predators 5-4 at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night. The Panthers began a five-game road swing. Aaron Ekblad had a career-high four-point game while Radko Gudas played in his 500th NHL game. 

     Florida(14-4-4) got out to a 2-0 lead during the first period. Carter Verhaeghe poked in the puck from the crease area to make it 1-0 at the 6:29 mark. Aleksander Barkov made it a four-game point streak with an assist on the play. Mason Marchment scored his first NHL goal at 9:01 and expanded his point streak to four games. 

     The Panthers extended it to a three-goal margin 59 seconds into the second period. Jonathan Huberdeau got the tally from the low slot and tied Scott Mellanby for third all-time in franchise history with his 157th goal. 

     Nashville(10-13-0) broke the shutout with 7:37 left in the frame. Mattias Ekholm blasted a slap shot from the left point. 

     It became 4-1 for the Cats with 1:16 to go. Aaron Ekblad put in a snap shot from the left circle while on the power play. He passed Robert Svehlan for career power-play goals by a Panthers defenseman with his 27th. 

     The Predators trailed 4-2 with 26 seconds remaining in the second. Viktor Arvidsson fired a shot from the left wing and Filip Forsberg redirected it in from the left of the crease. 

     In the third period, Florida scored again with the man advantage at the 9:07 mark. Ekblad compiled his second goal of the contest and fourth point of the game as he released a wrist shot from the high slot.  

     The Preds were down 5-3 with 7:20 remaining. Colton Sissons chalked up his fourth goal of the campaign as he tapped the puck in from the top of the crease. 

     Nashville pulled their goalie with over three minutes to go. They scored with 1:13 left when Ryan Johansen flipped a rebound shot into the cage from close range for his first goal this year.