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Fansided

5 Florida Panthers Home Games To Attend in 2019-20

By Cal Friedman

SUNRISE, FL - FEBRUARY 17: Aleksander Barkov #16 of the Florida Panthers skates on the ice to salute the fans after scoring a hat trick to help his team win 6-3 against the Montreal Canadiens at the BB&T Center on February 17, 2019 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FL - FEBRUARY 17: Aleksander Barkov #16 of the Florida Panthers skates on the ice to salute the fans after scoring a hat trick to help his team win 6-3 against the Montreal Canadiens at the BB&T Center on February 17, 2019 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Game #4: Saturday, March 7th, 2020, Montreal Canadiens

OTTAWA, ON – MARCH 28: Florida Panthers Goalie Roberto Luongo (1) takes a drink during second period National Hockey League action between the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators on March 28, 2019, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON – MARCH 28: Florida Panthers Goalie Roberto Luongo (1) takes a drink during second period National Hockey League action between the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators on March 28, 2019, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

For the first time on this list, the matchup features more than just a good game. On March 7th, the Florida Panthers will retire their 2nd number, the #1, for Roberto Luongo.

Luongo, who spent 11 seasons with the Panthers, holds multiple records for the club and should have every Panthers fan attending. Luongo is arguably the greatest player to don the Panthers colors in 25 seasons and should be honored appropriately by the fans.

The ceremony for Luongo should take place before puck drop, which is what happened the last time the Panthers raised a number to the rafters. The first time, the Panthers didn’t honor one of their former players, so this retirement will be the number one of both jersey numbers and honoring players.

For someone who did so much for this franchise and the community around BB&T, it shouldn’t be any more fitting that he is honored as such.

The game, meanwhile, should feature two teams fighting for playoff contention, with the Panthers and Montreal Canadiens believing they can push well above their weight this season. This should be a very-well coached game, as Coach Q and Claude Julien are two of the best that hockey has to offer.

Outside of that, Bobrovsky will face yet another Vezina Rival in Carey Price. Price, who had a 35-24-6 record last year with a 2.49 GAA, tends to always be a fun player to watch.

This game should be fun, but all attention should go to the jersey retirement.

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