Florida @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 9, 2018 ) Florida 7, St. Louis 4

The Florida Panthers had mixed results during their giant eight-game homestand and will head out on the road for six of the next seven, beginning with a stop in St. Louis to meet the struggling Blues on Tuesday night. The Panthers earned nine of a possible 16 points on the homestand (3-2-3) after dropping a 5-4 shootout decision against the New York Rangers on Saturday.

“I think we gave away some points,” Florida coach Bob Boughner told reporters after seeing his team suffer four one-goal losses - three after regulation - during the home stretch. “It could’ve easily been 12, 13 or 14 (points).” The Panthers have some ground to make up in the Atlantic Division with games in hand after the slow start, but St. Louis has dug itself a big hole and is close to sinking to the bottom of the league after a 6-1 loss to Vancouver at home Sunday. The Blues were coming off a promising 1-0 victory at Winnipeg on Friday, but have not won back-to-back contests in just over a month and veteran forward Alex Steen told reporters the team is not committed enough to accomplish its goals. “The way out is the same thing we preach day in and day out,” St. Louis interim coach Craig Berube told the media. “You have to go into every game, no matter who you play, and you gotta be committed to giving 100 percent effort and compete as hard as you can, every game. … We’re going to keep at it, we’re going to keep pounding it in their heads until they get it.”

TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Florida, FS Midwest (St. Louis)

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (11-11-6): Florida averaged 3.5 goals per game on the homestand and boast five players with at least 27 points on this season, but the next most among the healthy players is 13 from defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Mike Matheson. “It’s a good group of guys,” Boughner told reporters. “The only problem I have is that it’s the same four or five guys scoring every night. We need some depth.” Jonathan Huberdeau has eight multi-point efforts in his last 10 games and leads the team with 34 while Mike Hoffman tops the Panthers with 14 goals.

ABOUT THE BLUES (10-14-4): Rookie forward Jordan Kyrou scored his first NHL goal Sunday in his 11th game, logging 13 minutes, 59 seconds of ice time - his second highest total this season with St. Louis. Center Ryan O’Reilly leads the team with 29 points, but managed just two assists in the past five contests, while Vladimir Tarasenko (nine goals, 11 assists) has been kept off the scoresheet in four straight games. Jordan Binnington got recalled after Sunday’s game and fellow goalie Chad Johnson (2-6-0, .884 save percentage) was placed on waivers Monday.

OVERTIME

1. The Panthers have at least one power-play goal in 18 of the last 19 games and the Blues are 13-of-13 on the penalty kill in the past three contests.

2. Florida F Nick Bjugstad (10 points) missed Saturday’s game and is questionable to face St. Louis with an upper-body injury.

3. St. Louis F Jaden Schwartz (upper body), who has missed the last 11 games, could return to the lineup Tuesday.

PREDICTION: Blues 4, Panthers 3