When the Florida Panthers visit the St. Louis Blues tonight, it will be a Homecoming Night the Tkachuk Brothers can get behind.
Both Brady and Matthew Tkachuk were born in Arizona but grew up in St. Louis where dad Keith — now a newly minted Hall of Famer — had some of his best seasons while with the Blues.
Panthers lines tonight: projected lineup and starting goalie →
The two spend most of their summers in the suburbs of St. Louis and are usually welcomed back — which was not the case when Brady returned to Ottawa last month.
The Tkachuks will not only be welcomed back to St. Louis tonight, but they will be celebrated as well.
In honor of Keith going into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, the Blues will honor their former player (and current front office advisor) with a pregame ceremony tonight.
The Blues plan to celebrate Keith’s HHoF induction with a ceremonial puck drop featuring both Matthew and Brady at center ice.
“We’ve had so many great memories on this ice together,” Matthew said, “and now we get to share another one. I just think it’s going to be so special.”
The team is also selling Tkachowda (in a special bowl, nonetheless) and Walt’s Wings at one of their concession stands at the arena.
NOTES: PANTHERS at BLUES
Sasha Barkov is not expected to play tonight or tomorrow in Dallas, but his return to the lineup is imminent. Could he go Tuesday against Connor McDavid and the Oilers?
Radko Gudas plays in No. 900 tonight.
The Panthers will keep Anton Lundell up with the Tkachuk Bros. tonight with Sam Bennett going with Eetu Luostarinen and Sandis Vilmanis.
Starting Goalies: The Panthers will go back to Jacob Markstrom after his big game on Tuesday in Columbus. Expect Akira Schmid tomorrow in Dallas. Joel Hofer is coming off a shootout shutout in Utah and gets a shot at the Panthers tonight.
How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are back on local TV tonight which means a heapin’ helpin’ of Steve Goldstein, Randy Moller, Katie Engleson, Jessica Blaylock and Ed Jovanovski.
Betting Odds: The Panthers are slight favorites in Missouri tonight by the local book. If you think Florida makes it three straight wins tonight, a $115 wager cashes $100 if it does.
ON DECK: GAME No. 21
FLORIDA PANTHERS at ST. LOUIS BLUES
When: Sunday, 8 p.m.
Where: Enterprise Center, St. Louis
Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM. Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM, NHL App
Local Betting Odds — Panthers Favored: MoneyLine (-115); Puck Line -1.5 (+200); O/U 5.5 (-130/+105)
This Season — At Florida: Dec. 21. At St. Louis: Saturday
Last Season: Blues won 2-0
All-time Regular Season Series: St. Louis Leads 29-15-1, 3 ties
Up Next for the Panthers: Sunday at Dallas Stars, 8 p.m.
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (11-7-2) LINES
8 Brady Tkachuk // 15 Anton Lundell // 19 Matthew Tkachuk
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 13 Sam Reinhart // 20 Lars Eller
27 Eetu Luostarinen // 9 Sam Bennett // 95 Sandis Vilmanis
14 Bokondji Imama // 79 Cole Schwindt // 21 Garnet Hathaway
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
77 Niko Mikkola // 3 Seth Jones
7 Dmitry Kulikov // 6 Radko Gudas
25 Jacob Markstrom
40 Akira Schmid
Scratched: Uvis Balinskis, Cole Reinhardt, Jack Devine
Injured: Sasha Barkov (knee/LTIR), Brad Marchand (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body/LTIR)
PROJECTED ST. LOUIS BLUES (9-8-2) LINES
81 Dylan Holloway // 18 Robert Thomas // 21 Jimmy Snuggerud
63 Jake Neighbours // 83 Mason McTavish // 29 Jonatan Berggren
15 Dalibor Dvorsky // 77 Connor McMichael // 99 Pavel Buchnevich
13 Alexey Toropchenko // 22 Pius Suter // 49 Ross Johnston
6 Philip Broberg // 23 Logan Mailloux
72 Justin Barron // 55 Colton Parayko
17 Cam Fowler // 25 Brandon Carlo
30 Joel Hofer
50 Jordan Binnington
Scratched: Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, Calle Rosen
Injured: Tyler Tucker (knee), Dillon Dube (neck)
George Richards is the publisher of Florida Hockey Now and has been the beat writer covering the NHL Florida … More about George Richards, FHN Publisher