He intends, Patric Hornqvist vowed, to approach this game the same as every other he has played in the National Hockey League.
Which is to say, with the ferocity of a wolverine who has a toothache and a grudge.
But Hornqvist realizes this will be unlike any of the 827 games for which he has dressed during the regular season, or the 96 in which he has competed during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
For when Hornqvist and his Florida teammates face the Penguins tonight at 7:08 at PPG Paints Arena, it will be his first game in the building since the Penguins traded him to the Panthers in 2020.