Red Wings Suffer Nightmare Collapse Against Panthers, Lose 5-4 After Leading 4-1

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The Detroit Red Wings entered Thursday's contest against the Florida Panthers having lost four straight games, but by the midway point of the second period, they appeared to have everything well in hand and were on their way to ending that streak.

What followed after they took a 4-1 lead was the stuff of nightmares, and one the Red Wings never woke up from.

The Panthers scored four unanswered goals, starting with a late second-period tally and capped by two goals within 51 seconds late in the third, ultimately hanging on for a stunning 5-4 regulation victory.

For the Red Wings, it was nothing short of a devastating gut-punch of a loss. 

The Red Wings, who are now 7-10-3, have now lost five straight games, with Thursday's collapse marking the second time during that stretch they've failed to protect a multi-goal third-period lead. 

The loss will sting even more, knowing they came away with zero points in the standings despite having led at one point by a 4-1 score, which in years past would have been a virtually impenetrable lead for the club. 

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It was the Panthers who struck first thanks to a backhand tally from Sam Reinhart, only to have J.T. Compher respond for the Red Wings soon afterward. 

Andreas Englund, whom the Red Wings picked up on waivers in late September, then scored his first goal since joining Detroit, giving them their first lead of the night. 

Lucas Raymond scored 17 seconds into the second period, as his shot deflected off defenseman Seth Jones. Marco Kasper then increased the lead to 4-1 by deflecting William Wallinder's shot past goaltender Akira Schmid. 

However, Florida began their comeback in the waning seconds of the period, as Gustav Forsling beat John Gibson through a screen, giving them life. 

Anton Lundell started to make Detroit sweat with a goal less than three minutes into the third period, eventually setting the stage for goals from Lars Eller and a second from Lundell 51 seconds later, giving the Panthers the lead. 

The stunned Red Wings pulled Gibson for the extra attacker, but couldn't come up with the equalizer. 

Gibson finished with 24 saves on 29 shots, while Schmid turned aside 24 shots on the 28 he faced. 

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