"I like our energy and what we're doing," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said after Friday's practice. "We've just got to have a little more attention to detail, be more aware, maybe a little bit more sharper for the game. We think we're a little loose and we think we can just and skate and play offense. That's kind of bit us here in the last three or four games."
After climbing out of a 4-1 hole to stun the Capitals in a 5-4 win on Tuesday, the "Comeback Cats" then pulled off a repeat performance when they clawed their way back from another 4-1 deficit to come from behind and cruise to an impressive 7-4 win over the Sabres on Thursday.
Scoring a season-high seven goals as a team -- including six unanswered scores -- Lucas Carlsson, Sam Reinhart and Jonathan Huberdeau all lit the lamp once against Buffalo, while Anton Lundell and Aaron Ekblad each scored twice to help the Panthers improve to 16-4-3.
Sitting atop the team's scoring leaderboard with 28 points (eight goals, 20 assists), Huberdeau also dished out four assists to go along with his goal for the third five-point game of his career.
Coming into the game in relief of Sergei Bobrovsky after the Panthers decided to shake things up in the second period, Spencer Knight stopped all 19 shots he faced in relief. In 11 games this season, the 20-year-old rookie has registered a 6-3-1 record on top of a .908 save percentage.
Florida is the ninth team in NHL history to erase a three-goal deficit to win in two straight games.
"The belief is fantastic," said Ekblad, who finished with four points against the Sabres. "After that second period, we were in the room, obviously not in a favorable position down 4-3, but we had that power play, and you could feel the confidence in the room. It showed in that third period."
In second place in the Central Division at 12-8-3, the Blues are coming off a home-and-home split with the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Lightning. After winning 4-3 in a shootout in St. Louis on Tuesday, the Blues then stumbled during a 4-2 loss at Tampa Bay on Thursday.
Brandon Saad and Pavel Buchnevich each scored in that defeat to make it a 2-2 game before the Lightning pulled away in the third period. With Jordan Binnington in COVID-19 protocol, Ville Husso, who owns a 3-2-0 record, manned the crease for St. Louis and stopped 31 of 35 shots.
In addition to missing Binnington, Justin Faulk and Tyler Bozak are also currently in COVID-19 protocol for the Blues, while David Perron has been out since Nov. 26 with an upper-body injury.
Bolstering the Blues' eighth-ranked offense (3.26 goals scored per game on average), Jordan Kyrou leads the team in points (23) and is tied with Buchnevich for the most goals (9). Robert Thomas ranks second in scoring with 22 points, including racking up a team-leading 20 assists.
Since the 2017-18 season, the Panthers own a 3-2-0 record against St. Louis.
"They're always a real tough team to play," Brunette said. "I played against them and coached against them in the Central for a long time. They're a hard team to find any ice against. They defend extremely well and they're [former] Stanley Cup champions for a reason here. They have a lot of the same personnel. It's another big test for us. It'll be a great measuring stick."
With an early 1 p.m. ET puck drop this afternoon, Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said that players will need to be ready to roll out of bed and get right to work against the Blues.
"I'm a big fan," Weegar said. "I really like getting up and getting right to work. I'm obviously used to the 7 o'clock games. You get a good routine, get a nap in. Waking up and eating your pasta and chicken can be a little tough at eight in the morning, but I just like getting here and getting the game going right away. This home-and-home should be exciting against St. Louis."
After this afternoon's matchup, the Panthers and Blues will meet again in St. Louis on Tuesday.
