NOTEBOOK: Boqvist extended; Vanecek acquired

FORT LAUDERDALE – The sun continues to shine bright in South Florida.

With their 2-1 win over the in-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, the Florida Panthers improved to 38-21-3 on the season, placing them in a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division.

Making his debut for the Panthers, newly acquired defenseman Seth Jones showed signs of what could come over the next five years, despite getting just one morning skate with his new team.

Logging 22:56 of ice time, the 30-year-old blueliner recorded three shots, two blocked shots, one hit, and provided a 55.56% offensive advantage at 5-on-5, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

In addition to winning four straight games, the Panthers are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games.

During the streak, the big dogs have been making some big plays.

In the four-game span, Aaron Ekblad has dished out five assists and is on a four-game point steak.

Down the middle, Aleksander Barkov (two goals, two assists) and Sam Bennett (one goal, three assists) have each recorded four points and are each winning more than 50% of their faceoffs.

Between the pipes, Sergei Bobrovsky has been nothing short of fantastic.

Over his last three appearances, Brick Wall Bob boasts a perfect 3-0-0 record with a .949 save percentage, 1.34 goals against-average and one shutout.

“This guy is in his prime,” head coach Paul Maurice said of Bobrovsky following Wednesday’s practice at Baptist Health IcePlex. "Anybody looks at his age, that's fine, but he's in his prime right now. He's playing the best hockey he's ever played.”

Looking to stretch their winning streak to five games, the Panthers will have no easy test, as the playoff-hopeful Colombus Blue Jackets will visit Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.

Last meeting on Oct. 15 in Columbus, the Panthers will see a different team this time around.

Winning four of their last five games, the Blue Jackets rank fifth in the NHL with 3.33 goals per tilt.

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BOQVIST EXTENDED

The Swedish forward isn’t going anywhere.

On Tuesday, the Panthers announced that Jesper Boqvist inked a two-year contract extension.

“It’s awesome,” said Boqvist following the extension. “So happy and excited to be here another two years. Winning is the main thing; we have a chance to do that, and that’s what we all want.”

Fitting perfectly into Florida’s system, Boqvist has already posted a career high in goals (12), is two points away from surpassing his career high in points (23), and his 136 hits this season are nearly double that of his past career high (71).

“Right from training camp, he’s just fit in,” Maurice said of Boqvist. “His style of play, utility – we used him all over left, center, right. He’s got this nice hybrid in his game. He can make plays, he’s got a little bit of hands around the net, and then he’s just a dog on a bone.”

VANECEK JOINS THE CATS

The Panthers have added some depth to their crease.

On Wednesday, Florida acquired goaltender Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for forward prospect Patrick Giles.

“He's got good numbers and he's a good player,” Maurice said of the team’s newest netminder. “We have a heavy schedule, so it's good because we can bring a guy who's got NHL experience. We're going to need to play him some games.”

In 181 career NHL games between San Jose (2024-25), the New Jersey Devils (2021-22 to 2023-24) and Washington Capitals (2020-21 to 2021-22), Vanecek has compiled a 94-52-20 record, .903 save percentage, 2.82 goals-against average and nine shutouts.

The Czech goalie has also played in 10 career Stanley Cup playoff games between the Devils and Capitals.

With 20 games left in their regular season, the Panthers still have four back-to-backs on deck.