Florida has points in seven straight and thanks to a Pittsburgh loss, moved into the second Wild Card spot
Two games. Two great starts. Two big wins.
Momentum is starting to build with the Florida Panthers as they are showing something that has been lacking all season. Perhaps the most important thing.
Consistency.
The Panthers now have points in seven straight games, and thanks to a Pittsburgh home loss to Ottawa, currently sit in sole possession of the second Wild Card spot, one point back of the Islanders with a game in hand.
In addition to the win, a major milestone was reached in the second period. Florida captain Sasha Barkov picked up his 614th career point, moving into first place on the Panthers all-time scoring list.
He passed his longtime friend and former teammate Jonathan Huberdeau, who was traded to Calgary during the offseason.
It wasn’t all positive for the Panthers though. Sam Bennet headed to Florida’s dressing room with just under 13 minutes to go in the game and never returned.
Prior to the apparent injury, the second line had been absolutely flying, and Bennett was the tone setter. He was flying all night, one of his most noticeable games of the year.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice had no update on Bennett after the game, other than that he’ll be reevaluated on Tuesday.
FIRST PERIOD
The Panthers and Red Wings traded chances early, though Florida controlled most of the puck possession.
Detroit appeared to have a two-on-none, a breakaway and then a three-on-two, all within a couple minutes of each other, but they were all snuffed out by Florida before they turned into scoring chances.
A bad turnover by Lucas Raymond led to the Panthers opening goal. Raymond had the puck along the boards and fired it through the middle of the ice, giving it away to a wide-open Bennett between the circles. He found Matthew Tkachuk alone in front of the net, and that’s where he does his best work.
The Wings finally got a good scoring chance when Adam Ernie got behind Florida’s defense for a breakaway, but Sergei Bobrovsky came up with a big right pad save to keep the Panthers ahead 1-0.
Great work behind the net by Tkachuk to fend off a defender and feed the puck out front led to Florida’s second goal.
The puck slid to Verhaeghe in the high slot and he blasted it past Wings goalie Ville Husso. Detroit challenged for goalie interference with Bennett in the crease when the puck went in, but he didn’t appear to actually touch the goalie and the call on ice was confirmed.
Both of Florida’s goals were scored by second line, with Tkachuk picking up two more points.
Detroit got one back on a sloppy play in the Florida zone. David Perron was left all alone to Bob’s right after four Panthers ended up on the other size of the zone.
Perron deked around Bob but ended up behind the net. He tried to wrap it in, but the puck ended up loose at the post with Bob on his belly and out of position.
Gus Forsling and Aaron Ekblad couldn’t tie up Pius Suter in front of the net, and he poked the puck home.
SECOND PERIOD
The second line’s first shift of the period ended with two solid scoring chances, both off turnovers below the goal line by Detroit.
Whether or not it was a tactical move by the Red Wings, Bobrovsky found himself playing the puck an awful lot during the first half of the game.
While Bob is a solid puck handler skill-wise, his decision making and what he does with the puck once it’s on his stick leads to opposing scoring chances way more than it should.
Some Panthers history was made during the second period.
A great shift by the top line kept Detroit pinned in their own end.
The puck found its way to Gus Forsling at the blue line and he took a few steps in before blasting the puck past Husso.
Barkov assisted on the tally, giving him 614 career points and moving him into first on Florida’s all-time scoring list.
The Panthers took their first penalty of the game late in the second period, a holding call on Anton Lundell in the offensive zone.
Bobrovsky made a big save on Dominik Kubalik at the doorstep after a turnover at the Florida blue line, and the Cats took a 3-1 lead into the final frame.
THIRD PERIOD
Right off the bat, Barkov moved in on a clear breakaway but was stopped by Husso.
A tripping call on Radko Gudas would’ve given Detroit their second power play of the game, but the violent looking hip check on Simon Edvinsson led to Joe Veleno going after Gudas and taking a penalty of his own.
You could see the Panthers were trying their best to keep things simple during the third. They hung onto the puck and kept it away from the danger areas as much as possible while limiting opportunities in their own end.
Dylan Larkin made it a one goal game on a shot from just above the goal line at an extremely sharp angle. There was a delayed penalty on Aaron Ekblad and Florida was scrambling a bit in their own end, leading to Raymond finding Larkin with nobody near him.
Was it a nice shot? Yes.
Was it a shot that Bobrovsky should stop 10 times out of 10? Yes.
The news got worse for Florida when Bennett headed down the tunnel midway through the period.
Eetu Luostarinen took Bennett’s spot centering the second line while Lundell moved back up to Barkov’s wing on the top unit, and Eric Staal jumped up to take Lundell’s place.
With Detroit pressing late, the Cats were able to catch them with their defenseman pinching, which led to a two-on-none break for Staal and Anthony Duclair.
The Duke carried the puck into the zone and slid it over to Staal, and the veteran made no mistake, one-timing the puck past Husso to put Florida ahead 4-2.
Maurice called the goal “critically important” as it came when the Red Wings were making their biggest push for a late game-tying goal.
Verhaeghe provided the proverbial nail in the coffin with a late power play goal, his second of the game and 36th of the season.
He carried the puck off the boards and into some space in the right circle before cutting to the slot, going backhand forehand with the puck and firing it through several Penguins and past Husso.
QUICK HITS
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