#florida-panthers

#florida-panthers

(Jeremy Swayman) was really good and we obviously wanted to give him the start in the outdoor game," coach Marco Sturm told reporters in Florida. "And this one today I think is a tricky one. We have the Olympics coming up and (Swayman's) probably thinking about that, too. We thought Korpi was playing really well. (Swayman) had already played three games in a row, so there's a lot more to it. We hope Korpi will be the right guy.

"¡Vamos Gatos! Night" is the Panthers' annual celebration of the Hispanic community in South Florida. It includes music, dancing and food vendors offering much more than the normal chicken fingers and fries. But the most memorable aspect of "¡Vamos Gatos! Night" features the Panthers inviting local artists to transform the team's logos and jerseys into vibrant art pieces. Previous jersey designs have incorporated iconography such as pineapples, Cafecito cups and the colors of Latin American countries' flags.

But if we're going to be real, San Jose Sharks defenceman Vincent Desharnais had the better return to action. Not only did he score a goal in his return, but he also had himself a highlight reel open-ice hit on Matthew Tkachuk. And he won a fight against Tkachuk. Safe to say it wasn't the impact that Matthew Tkachuk had hoped to make upon his return, especially with his Florida Panthers having just thirty-four games left to claim and solidify a playoff spot.

Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais upended Panthers forward Mackie Samoskevich along the boards in the San Jose end. Evan Rodrigues then came in and leveled Desharnais with a hit from behind. That caused a melee to the side of the Sharks' net, with Nedeljkovic jumping to get a piece of Rodrigues. A few seconds later, Bobrovsky skated the length of the ice to get at Nedeljkovic.

Nikolaj Ehlers notched a hat trick and added an assist; Taylor Hall scored twice; and Mark Jankowski lit the lamp and had a pair of helpers in the rout. Andrei Svechnikov, Eric Robinson and Alexander Nikishin also lit the lamp for the Hurricanes, who went 4-for-5 on the power play to empathetically ended a two-game losing streak.

After remarks by the president and members of the team, the Panthers presented Trump with a custom jersey with his last name and the number 47 a longstanding tradition for championship visits. The Panthers, however, didn't stop there. In addition to the jersey, the team gifted him with a gold hockey stick and two championship rings. It's unclear if the stick was made of real gold, but it certainly had some heft to it.

A.J. Greer got off the schneid, scoring a pair of goals to help the Florida Panthers topple the Buffalo Sabres by a 4-3 count at Key Bank Center. Aided by an early interference minor on Josh Doan, the Panthers drew first blood 2:35 into the action when Carter Verhaeghe took a pass from Sam Reinhart, who was knocked down, and fed Uvis Baliniskis at the left point.