Florida
Florida Panthers on a roll as they sweep road trip, notch 8 straight wins: CBS News Miami’s Steve Goldstein
FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers went west to face tough opponents and simply swept them all away.
They won all four games, in Arizona, Vegas, Colorado and St. Louis, and extended the win streak to eight, the third longest winning streak in franchise history.
The Cats were clicking in all phases of the game, dominating on special teams, scoring in bunches and getting strong goaltending. Forty games into the season, the Panthers are one of the top handful of teams in the league and a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
Defense dominates
It has been a true team effort to become one of the top 3 defensive teams in the NHL. Starting with the goalies making the key saves, the Panthers have allowed two goals per game during the streak. Sergei Bobrovsky has won six in a row and is likely heading to the All Star game.
Anthony Stolarz has won two games during the streak, allowing one goal each game. Both have benefited from a stingy defense which is helped immensely by the forwards coming back to help. Defense wins championships and the Panthers have the right formula.
Sizing up the streak
The Panthers have outscored the opponents 36-15 the last 8 games. In the third period, it is a staggering 18-5. The last 5 games they are averaging 5 goals a game and allowing less than 2.
The Panthers get better as the games go on and have not trailed after getting the lead. They will try to make it nine Thursday against Los Angeles at Amerant Bank Arena.
Chucky is back
Look out NHL.
As if the defending eastern conference champions solid play so far this season wasn’t enough, Matthew Tkachuk has caught fire. While playing well and contributing, he wasn’t producing his usual offensive numbers. Until the last couple of weeks. Tkachuk scored a natural hat trick in the third period Tuesday in St. Louis.
He grew up there and had numerous family members and friends in the stands. He has a remarkable 15 points in his last 6 games
and has scored in every game in 2024. The Panthers are virtually unstoppable when he is scoring at the rate he is.
Reinhart the All Star
Sam Reinhart will be heading to Toronto for All Star weekend for the first time in his nine-year career. It’s a family event so to speak.
His father Paul was a terrific NHL defenseman and made the All Star game twice: in 1985 and 1989.
Sam wasn’t born yet, so he now gets to experience the All Star game for himself. Reinhart is having one of the best goal scoring seasons in Panthers history. He’s scored 29 in the first 40 games. Reinhart is second in the league goals and leads the NHL in power plays goals, game winners and shooting percentage.
Barkov assisting
Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov may be the most unselfish superstar in sports. The man literally wouldn’t care if he scored 5 goals and had 95 assists.
He may even welcome it.
Barkov can shoot and score, he’s had 39 in a season, but his elite hockey sense leads to Barkov setting up teammates more often. Reinhart is having a great season and part of it is Barkov being his center man. During the current eight-game winning streak, Barkov has 14 assists
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Brevard County couple gets married in NICU after birth of premature twins
A Florida couple, told they may not be able to have children, welcomed premature twins and had an impromptu NICU wedding.
Provided by AdventHealth for Children
Ben and Danielle Cassidy were told they likely wouldn’t be able to have children.
But this year they will celebrate Mother’s Day just months after having an impromptu wedding in the AdventHealth for Children hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit shortly after Danielle gave birth to twins prematurely — a week before the Palm Bay couple was scheduled to get married.
Both babies, Joshua and Rhett, are doing well despite arriving nine weeks ahead of schedule on Jan. 19, 2026, just one day after their scheduled baby shower. With a proper wedding out of the question with two premature babies in the NICU, a nurse took action.
Issabel Kenkel, the nurse behind the ceremony, said she was already in wedding planning mode for her own upcoming nuptials when she found out the Cassidy family’s ceremony would be interrupted.
“I couldn’t just let them do something small. They needed decorations and something fun, so I spoke to the music therapist and the chaplain,” Kenkel said. In short order, a wedding was being planned for their hospital room and the couple was saying their vows in the company of their safely delivered newborns.
“When we found out we could request staff members to be on our team, that’s when we requested Issabel and having that kind of consistency from someone who has such a big heart and is so kind,” Danielle said.
The hospital ceremony was all the more special because of the Cassidy family’s own health struggles.
“I have five autoimmune diseases and didn’t really think I would have kids. It’s been a rough journey. When Ben and I met, we were floored at how much a miracle it was to have kids,” Danielle said.
Ben, who battled and beat cancer, said he was worried that his prior treatment would result in negative health outcomes for his future children. Having twins for him was an unexpected blessing.
“When we found out we were pregnant, we found it so shocking. We said, wouldn’t it be great if it was twins? It filled out our hopes and dreams list,” Ben said. “They’ve been miracles for sure.”
The Cassidy couple said there was so much fear and uncertainty when their twins were born nine weeks early. Being able to get married right away just made them feel all the better about the future.
“It was nice getting married because we didn’t have to wait any longer to make it official. It made it that much harder for her to get rid of me,” Ben said.
“The unknown made it scary,” Danielle added. “We had no idea how long we would be in the hospital. Our wedding was going to be at the beach with immediate family and parents. Having NICU babies, we realized we’d never be able to get to the beach. It was really special having the people who care for our babies be part of the ceremony.”
The couple hadn’t even planned to have a band at their wedding ceremony and now the hospital’s music therapist was performing live for them and the chaplain was conducting the ceremony, something nurse Kenkel said was just part of her job.
“The babies are going to have the best outcomes if the families are taken care of and going home happy,” she said. “Being in the NICU is already so stressful. This is just one more thing I could do to take care of my patients.”
Tyler Vazquez is the Growth and Development Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. X: @tyler_vazquez.
The Vero Beach Police Department took a man into custody May 8 in connection with a threatening phone call directed toward a business.
The agency received information at 5:21 p.m. May 7 about a threatening call to Thrive IRC Inc. at 2300 5th Ave. in Vero Beach, according to a news release. The call included someone threatening to come to the business with an AK rifle and “light the building up.”
Detectives began investigating the threat and identified Michael Sean O’Brien, 27, of Vero Beach, as the person associated with the phone number used during the call.
O’Brien was taken into custody at about 3:30 p.m. May 8 without incident. He was charged with the false report concerning the use of firearms in a violent manner, which is a second degree felony, according to the news release.
O’Brien was booked in the Indian River County Jail at 6:13 p.m. May 8 but was released at 1:36 p.m. May 9 after posting the $5,000 bond, according to the jail website.
No additional information was available the afternoon of May 9.
Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.
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