The Florida Panthers hold a full team skate at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Dec. 18. Playing their first home game in nearly two weeks, the Florida Panthers struggled to beat a hot goaltender and fell to the St. Louis Blues 4-1 at Amerant Bank Arena. Florida was by far the more aggressive team, logging nearly twice as many shots on goal as the Blues while holding a significant 13-4 edge in high danger chances. The difference proved to be St. Louis goaltender Joel Hofer, who stopped all seven high danger shots by Florida, holding them to just the one goal on a night the Panthers expected goals was 3.54, according to Natural Stat Trick. After a scoreless first period, Florida held a 15-6 shot advantage early in the second period, but one turnover at the Panthers blue line led to an odd man rush for the Blues. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] Jordan Kyrou finished the play with Sergei Bobrovsky down and out on the opposite side of the crease to put St. Louis up 1-0. It was nearly 2-0 about 20 seconds later but fortunately for Florida, the Blues were offside, and the goal was wiped off the board after a successful challenge by the Panthers. The momentum boost didn’t last for the Panthers. St. Louis reclaimed its 2-0 lead a couple minutes later. after capitalizing on a slow line change by the Panthers and a tough read by Bobrovsky. A bounce finally went the Panthers way late in the period when Eetu Luostarinen’s dump-in hit something along the glass just past the Florida bench. With Hofer heading behind the net, the puck took a sharp right turn and went straight into the vacated net. Unfortunately for Florida, that would be the only way they could beat the Blues' tendy on this night. Less than three minutes after Florida's fluky goal, a nice deflection by Alexey Toropchenko beat Bobrovsky to give the Blues their two-goal lead back. Ryan Lomberg thought he had deflected home his third goal of the season, but officials deemed that he hit the puck with a high stick, and review would back up that claim, early in the third period. The Blues added an empty net goal after Florida pulled Bobrovsky with around four minutes to go, cementing the frustrating loss for the Panthers. Coming up next, Vegas will be in town on Saturday for a Stanley Cup Final rematch. Here are some thoughts and observations from Thursday’s tilt with St. Louis: Carter Verhaeghe came out firing, putting up six shots on goal in first half of game. He finished with eight. Bobrovsky allowed two goals on the first 10 shots he faced and 3 goals on 14 shots. He finished with 22 saves. Blues defenseman Colton Parayko was a man on a mission. He logged over 22 minutes, had two shots on goal, was a plus-1 and blocked an eye-popping eight shots. That’s three more than the entire Panthers team blocked on Thursday. Florida was actually quite good in the faceoff circle, winning 70% of the draws against the Blues. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA THN Archive: Ek-citement in Florida [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/thn-archive-ek-citement-in-florida-] Panthers to host first practice at new War Memorial facility on Friday [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-to-host-first-practice-at-new-war-memorial-facility-on-friday] Holiday homestead beings with Panthers welcoming St. Louis to Sunrise [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/holiday-homestead-beings-with-panthers-welcoming-st-louis-to-sunrise] Practice notebook: Pair of Panthers forwards remain under the weather [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/practice-notebook-pair-of-panthers-forwards-remain-under-the-weather] THN Archive: Captain Scott Mellanby emerges as pivotal contributor and leader for Panthers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/thn-archive-captain-scott-mellanby-emerges-as-pivotal-contributor-and-leader-for-panthers] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
