Panthers defenseman Gus Forsling speaks after Florida's 4-3 OT win over Vegas on Oct. 19. The Florida Panthers welcomed the Minnesota Wild to town in the final game of their three-game homestand on Tuesday night. Florida Star Matthew Tkachuk returned to the lineup after missing the last five games with an illness, a stretch in which the Panthers went 3-1-1. The Wild took the early lead midway through the first period, never surrendered it and did not give the Panthers a chance to even make it a game as they ended Florida’s point streak at four by defeating the Panthers 5-1 in Sunrise. The Panthers had control of the game early, not allowing a shot on goal until just before the five-minute mark of the first period. Minnesota got it going after the second TV timeout, where they rimmed it around the boards and got the puck to star, Kirill Kaprizov. Kaprizov found Marco Rossi alone in the low slot and fired a pass to the middle from the half wall, where Rossi redirected it past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 1-0 at the 11:40 mark. It did not take long for the Wild to strike again, 22 seconds later. The Wild won a defensive zone draw, and chip around the boards, Matt Boldy was able to get behind the defense in transition. After skating to the far corner, Marcus Johansson was found all alone in the right circle. With a clear shooting lane, his one-timer beat Bobrovsky past the glove to make it 2-0 on their fourth shot of the contest. Things seemed to have calmed down as the Panthers got their fair share of rush chances and offensive zone time, but could not solve Filip Gustavsson to cut the deficit before the first intermission. In a blink of an eye, there was another goal scored by the Wild, this time on the power play. Mats Zuccarello’s shot from the point was redirected by a screening Boldy near the blue paint to extend the lead to three 2:40 into the second. Just over midway through the period, the Panthers capitalized off a Wild turnover in their offensive zone, a stretch pass by Nate Schmidt found Tkachuk right at the blue line, where he tapped to Sam Bennett, and played give-and-go with a speeding Carter Verhaeghe. Bennett skated to the net where the return feed deflected off the skate to cut it to two at 11:19. There would be no momentum shift as the Wild responded less than three minutes later. Kaprizov drove toward Bobrovsky’s right side where he challenged the play, but got bumped by Bennett on the play. Bob was unable to get back into his crease before Zuccarello’s shot went into the open net. When it rains, it pours. Minnesota got their fifth different goal scorer on the night at 16:05 of the second. Another goal in transition off a defensive zone draw, the puck was chipped up the wall in the neutral zone where Joel Eriksson Ek was first to it. Before the Panthers could close the gap after gaining the zone, the wrister by Eriksson Ek from the right circle got past the far side shoulder of Bobrovsky, and the rout in Sunrise was on. Spencer Knight came into the game in relief to start the third period, as win number 400 for Bobrovsky was going to have to wait another day. Knight saved all six shots that he faced in the 20 minutes of game action. Neither team got on the scoresheet in the third as the Wild continued to not trail through six games so far this season winning 5-1 in Sunrise on Tuesday night. The Panthers will now hit the road as their next five games will be away from South Florida, with three games in New York state before playing two in Tampere, Finland for the NHL’s Global series against the Dallas Stars. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Panthers getting healthier as they host Wild in last home game for a while [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/.preview/cn02ea95006000257a?auth=1729721767:1ad091874f9465955cb894721cd8734d86f229b6&nonce=1729635367676] 'We expect him in the lineup': Matthew Tkachuk set to return after missing Panthers past 5 games [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/we-expect-him-in-the-lineup-matthew-tkachuk-set-to-return-after-missing-panthers-past-5-games] Sam Reinhart named NHL’s First Star of the Week [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/players/sam-reinhart-named-nhls-first-star-of-the-week-] The Hockey Show: Fun from Panthers Media Day with Sergei Bobrovsky, Dmitry Kulikov and A.J. Greer [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/the-hockey-show-fun-from-panthers-media-day-with-sergei-bobrovsky-dmitry-kulikov-and-a-j-greer] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
