Rookie milestones and a flurry of goals capped the Panthers' season, overwhelming Detroit 8-1 in a dominant finale.
The Florida Panthers put on a good show for their fans during Wednesday’s season finale at Amerant Bank Arena.
Despite playing for nothing more than pride (and positioning in the NHL Draft Lottery), the Panthers skated all over the Detroit Red Wings, beating them 8-1 to end the season on something of a high note.
It took less than five minutes for the game’s first goal to be scored.
With Florida putting on the pressure in the Red Wings’ zone, Vinnie Hinostroza put a quick shot on goal that beat John Gibson, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead at the 4:57 mark.
The only assist went to rookie Wilmer Skoog, who picked up his first NHL point in just his third NHL game.
Florida made it 2-0 at nearly the same stage of the second period.
Directly off an offensive zone faceoff, Luke Kunin one-timed a pass from Matthew Tkachuk past Gibson 5:37 into the middle frame.
A.J. Greer made it 3-0 Florida with a nice wraparound goal while the Cats were on the power play with 11:04 to go, then moments later a funky bounce off the back boards gave rookie Mike Benning his first NHL goal and a 4-goal lead to the Panthers.
Continuing the night of firsts, rookie Ludvig Jansson picked up his first NHL point with an assist on Greer’s PPG.
Florida wasn’t done there.
A gorgeous cross-ice pass by Donovan Sebrango gave Benning a wide-open net to shoot at, giving the rookie his second goal of the game, as well as his career, exactly 3:02 after his first.
For those wondering, Florida’s four second period goals came in the span of just 7:04.
Detroit finally got on the board late in the period off a long wrist shot by Justin Fault that went between Daniil Tarasov’s body and right arm, running the veteran goaltender’s shutout bid with 3:48 to go in the period.
Cole Schwindt picked up his fifth goal of the season and second in the past 10 days about halfway through the final frame, making it 6-1 Panthers.
Exactly 41 seconds later, Florida’s other Cole, Cole Reinhardt, scored his fifth goal in four games to give the Panthers a seventh goal on the night.
Kunin scored his second of the night with 1:48 to go, giving the fans a final goal to celebrate.
Now the Panthers and their 84 points will watch and wait while the rest of the league finishes out the season to see where they fall in the NHL Draft Lottery order.
Remember, Florida keeps their pick if it ends up in the top-10.
On to…the offseason.
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Photo caption: Apr 15, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Detroit Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot (8) blocks a shot against Florida Panthers right wing MacKie Samoskevich (11) during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)