Knight stopped all 13 shots he faced during his preseason debut on Monday against Nashville

It had been over seven months since Spencer Knight had been on the ice at Amerant Bank Arena.

He backed up Sergei Bobrovsky on Monday, Feb. 20, a game that Florida won 4-3 in overtime over the visiting Anaheim Ducks.

A few days later, Knight checked into the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program due to a battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder that he only recently opened up about in an interview with The Hockey News.

Speaking after Monday’s start in Florida’s doubleheader matinee, Knight explained why he felt it was important to be open about his experience.

“It's nothing to hide,” he said. “I think I'll become a better person and player from it, and hopefully there's someone out there that may read my story and hopefully it helps them too.”

One thing that has been interesting about Knight’s return to the Panthers is how seamless it has been.

Between his off-ice training and interactions to the way he’s performed on the ice, Knight has been as sharp as any player in camp.

“It’s been a while, but there wasn’t a warm-up for him in terms of training camp, he stepped in the net and looked like he’d been with us right to the end,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said of Knight. “He is back in form. He looks good. He looks strong.”

The 22-year-old goalie first returned to the Panthers back in July, when he joined the team’s best and brightest at development camp, before hitting the ground running at NHL training camp this month.

While the sample size has been small, Knight has looked the part of a young goaltender who is locked in, focused, and most importantly, enjoying himself on a daily basis while taking each day as it comes.

“I think that's the mindset I'm trying to develop and get better at, through the good and also the bad, you just have to remain levelheaded,” Knight said. “I think that's something that will carry me to another level, when I have to play more and more games, hopefully. Because the more nights you play, the more you just have to go move on to the next one.”

Despite Knight not even being in South Florida for the team’s epic run to the Stanley Cup Final earlier this year, Panthers fans didn’t stop chanting his name during the singing of the National Anthem (“…gave proof through the NIGHT that our flag…”).

On Monday, Knight was finally back in the building to hear it.

“The fans have always been so supportive and so passionate, every time I interact with them, they're just awesome,” Knight said.

Between his off-ice demeanor and his on-ice performance, Knight appears to be in a good place mentally and physically to continue his young and promising career.

“I'm happy for him because it was a journey, and it was a challenge, and he met that challenge,” said Maurice. “I'm aware that it's something that he continues with his program every day, but he's had a good camp. He's looked strong.”