Hall of Fame goaltender Roberto Luongo took part in a full Florida Panthers practice on Dec. 28 at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale. The Florida Panthers are kicking off 2024 by heading out on a long, cross-country road trip. Happy New Year indeed. The Panthers upcoming trip will take them through Arizona, Las Vegas, Colorado and St. Louis. This comes just over three weeks after the Cats embarked on a western trek that started in Columbus before visiting Seattle, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. It’s pretty clear that Florida, which is still five games away from reaching the midway point of its 2023-24 schedule, is going to have a much easier time on the travel side of things during the second half of the campaign. “We've been on the road a bit,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said. “The last one was 11 days, this one will be 10. There's a cost to that, but we've survived it. Even in the losses that we had, we’ve learned something and came back and bounce back from them.” Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] Florida hits the road riding a four-game winning streak and holding a 22-12-2 record on the season, good for second place in the Atlantic Division. They're 10-7-2 away from South Florida. It’s been a solid follow-up season after the Panthers run to last year’s Stanley Cup Final, and their upcoming trip will provide another good measuring stick as Florida will be facing some tough Western Conference opponents. Arizona, Vegas and Colorado are all current playoffs teams while St. Louis has proven to be quite solid on home ice. “Good opponents, some really good teams we’re going into,” Maurice said. Along with Maurice, several Panthers players have spoken about relishing opportunities like this, to see how the team measures up when facing tough opponents in difficult situations. It also provides some positive thoughts when knowing that the second half of the season, at least from a traveling and scheduling standpoint, won’t be nearly as demanding. “For us, getting it out of the way and then being fresh in the back half the year in terms of time zones can be an advantage,” Maurice said. “When we're done with this trip, I think we've got two games outside our (time zone), one to Dallas and one to Nashville. For the rest of the year everything is on the eastern seaboard, so we can dial that in.” LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Happy New Year from THN Florida! [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/happy-new-year-from-thn-florida] Three takeaways: Bottom six shines as Florida grinds out win over Montreal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/three-takeaways-bottom-six-shines-as-florida-grinds-out-win-over-montreal] Eetu for two: Luostarinen’s first career 2-goal game leads Panthers past Montreal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/eetu-for-two-luostarinens-first-career-2-goal-game-leads-panthers-past-montreal] Panthers riding high, host Montreal looking for fourth win this week [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-riding-high-host-montreal-looking-for-fourth-win-this-week] Three takeaways: Battle of elite Rangers, Panthers squads decided by special teams [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/three-takeaways-battle-of-elite-rangers-panthers-squads-decided-by-special-teams] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
