Barkov, Bobrovsky fuel Panthers shootout win over visiting Red Wings
Sasha Barkov scored a pair of goals while Sergei Bobrovsky went a perfect 3-for-3 in the shootout
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports - Barkov, Bobrovsky fuel Panthers shootout win over visiting Red WingsThe Florida Panthers earned a gutty win on Saturday afternoon, picking up a pair of big points in their quest to finish first in the Atlantic Division.
Florida fell behind to the visiting Detroit Red Wings, but scored a pair of third period goals and then finished the job in a shootout, earning a 3-2 victory and moving back into a tie with the Boston Bruins atop the Atlantic.
Florida has played two less games than Boston, which plays Saturday night against the Washington Capitals in DC.
The game between the Cats and Wings started out somewhat ominously for Detroit.
Dylan Larkin was hurt during the first minute of the game after a Jeff Petry slapshot struck Larkin in the side of his left leg.
He needed help off the ice and went straight to the Red Wings’ locker room.
When Detroit was granted the game’s first power play at the 9:47 mark, Larkin came out for the draw but immediately went back to the bench and to the locker room again.
The Red Wings ended up scoring while on the man advantage when Robby Fabbri wired a wrist shot past Sergei Bobrovsky to put the visitors up 1-0.
Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice switched up his forward lines between periods, going with a more familiar top six of Sasha Barkov between Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart, and Sam Bennett centering Matthew Tkachuk and Nick Cousins, with Vladimir Tarasenko sliding to the third line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen,
Larkin, meanwhile, came out with his teammates for the start of the second period and was able to stay in for the rest of the game.
It didn’t take long to see that the moves made by Maurice were working. Florida outshot the Red Wings 10-2 over the first 10 minutes of the middle frame, with shot attempts 24-4 in the Panthers favor.
Detroit held the lead until the latter stages of the game, thanks in large part to goaltender Alex Lyon stymieing the Panthers over and over as the game progressed.
That was until the moment immediately after Florida killed a Red Wings power play with about eight minutes to go.
Aaron Ekblad came out of the penalty box and went straight into Detroit’s end of the ice, driving with the puck to the net and creating space for Sasha Barkov, who popped the puck past Lyon to tie the game at one.
Less than three minutes later with the teams skating four-on-four, Barkov drove toward the net and poked the puck forward. It went off the stick of Moritz Saider and through Lyon’s legs, giving Florida a 2-1 lead with 4:56 to go.
Soon after, Brandon Montour was called for a tripping call that had Florida’s bench more than a little upset, and it didn’t take long for Larkin to one-time a pass from Patrick Kane to tie the game once again.
The game made it to overtime, and Barkov was called for tripping less than a minute in.
Florida’s penalty kill effort was excellent, killing off the 4-on-3 and forcing the game to a shootout.
Sam Reinhart scored the only goal while Bobrovsky stopped all three Wings shooters to give the Panthers a much-needed victory.
On to Toronto and the last road trip of the regular season.
Here are some thoughts and observations from Saturday’s matinee with the Red Wings:
Barkov now has six goals and nine points over his past seven games.
The goals were Barkov’s 20th and 21st of the season, marking the ninth straight year he’s scored at least 20 goals.
Reinhart extended his point streak to five games, with three goals and seven points.
Detroit scored both its goals on the power play. They went 2-for-5 while the Panthers did not score on their lone chance.
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