The Florida Panthers welcome a few old friends back to Sunrise tonight when the visiting Utah Mammoth take the ice.
This is the second time the Panthers and Mammoth meet up — the first coming in Salt Lake City.
The night before the game, former Panthers Nate Schmidt and Vitek Vanecek received their Stanley Cup rings.
The Panthers squeezed out a 4-3 win for Sergei Bobrovsky on a goal by Anton Lundell with 52 seconds left.
Another former Panther with the Mammoth is Kevin Stenlund who was a valuable member of the 2024 Stanley Cup champions.
Schmidt and Vanacek will get the obligatory video thank you tonight, but other than that, it will be all business.
The much-improved Utah team currently holds a wild card spot in the Western Conference.
But, as things are in the Eastern Conference, things are tight and can change in a heartbeat.
The Mammoth, and the Arizona Coyotes who preceded them, have made the playoffs only once in the past 13 seasons.
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Schmidt, 34, is enjoying another great season after his comeback year in Florida.
His productivity is on a pace to exceed his point output in Florida. Defensively, he is at a career best plus-26.
After Florida captain Sasha Barkov received the Stanley Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman following the Game 6 victory over Edmonton last June, the first handoff went to Schmidt, keeping with a tradition that the honor goes to a veteran who has never won a Cup.
Vanecek, on the other hand, has not shown good numbers although much of his struggles can be attributed to his team not scoring goals for him.
His record, as Karel Vejmelka’s backup, is 2-9-2 with a 2.92 GAA and .883 save percentage.
In Vanecek’s nine regulation losses, the Mammoth only managed 16 goals.
Vanecek was on the short end of two shutouts in which he allowed only one goal in each.
With Vejmelka having played in last night’s 2-0 loss in Tampa it is likely Vanecek goes tonight.
Stenlund had, like Schmidt, an outstanding season in Florida.
He was invaluable as a steady fourth-line grinder, face-off specialist and penalty killer.
Stenlund received his Stanley Cup ring last season when the Panthers visited Utah in January.
With Florida, Stenlund set a career mark for goals with 11, since topped by his 14 last season in Utah.
Coach Andre Tourigny is in his fifth season with the team and owns the fourth longest tenure of all current NHL coaches. He is on a pace for his winningest season to date.
With young emerging stars like Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley, and young veterans like Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz, the Mammoth have scoring prowess.
Veteran Mikhail Sergachev anchors a solid defense.
They are in the top half of the NHL in both offense and defense.
Schmidt and veteran John Marino have been a solid defense pairing all season.
Tourigny, in a recent interview with the Deseret News, discussed Schmidt.
“He always has a positive attitude,’’ Tourigny said. “He’s been there, done that, so he remembers some situations that happened in the past and he brings that veteran leadership experience.
“What you see is what you get. He’s no different behind the curtain or when the heat is on or whatever. He is what he is, so that’s well-appreciated.”
Although Vejmelka’s career numbers are not overly impressive, the last two seasons have been outstanding. He is currently on a hot streak, winning his previous eight starts before losing Monday in Tampa.
Both teams enter tonight’s game with momentum.
Utah has won eight of its past 10 and had points in nine straight.
Florida returns home after a sweep of it’s very compact three games in four nights road trip.
Paul Maurice was more than pleased with the Chicago effort, after the team arrived at their hotel after flying in from Minnesota at 3:30 a.m.
The Panthers hadn’t won in Chicago since February 20, 2022.
Both teams tonight are riding what the hockey world calls “heaters.”
One thing is certain. The former Coyotes are no longer NHL pushovers.
ON DECK: GAME No. 52
UTAH MAMMOTH at FLORIDA PANTHERS
