The Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings were the only game of the NHL slate Sunday, and with all eyes upon them, the Cats did not disappoint. The visiting Panthers rallied from a one-goal, third period deficit to best Detroit 2-1 in overtime to continue their Motown mastery of the Red Wings.
After a scoreless first period that saw the Wings out-shoot the Cats by a 10-9 margin, and a quick Reilly Smith strike disallowed due to goalie interference, rookie sensation Dylan Larkin put the first goal on the board at the 7:02 mark of the second.
Larkin picked off an ill-advised pass from Aleksander Barkov and snapped the puck past Roberto Luongo for his tenth of the season.
Detroit starter Petr Mrazek, who finished with 30 saves, was 5:22 from a shutout when the Panthers finally broke through to even the game.
With Florida doing a good job of pressuring the Wings in their zone, Aaron Ekblad fired an off-target shot from the blue line that Smith was to tip it into the net for his sixth goal.
Detroit came close to winning the game in regulation, but Gustav Nyquist hit the post with 2:28 left on the clock.
The hungry Cats only needed 80 seconds and one shot to claim the bonus point in overtime.
Jussi Jokinen sent Jonathan Huberdeau streaking into the Wings’ end with a sharp cross-ice pass and Florida’s leading playmaker found a trailing Brian Campbell in the slot and he fired the puck by Mrazek to end it. Soup is good food.
Luongo stopped 28 shots and lowered his GAA to 2.37 as the Panthers climbed back above the .500 mark with their first win in the NHL’s new 3-on-3 overtime format.
Cogs & Sprockets
- The Cats are now a somewhat astounding 6-0-1 in their last seven trips to the Motor City.
- One negative from the game was the Panthers inability to find pay dirt on the power play. They finished 0-for-5, which included a 1:27 stretch at 5-on-3 in the second period. On the flip side, the PK went a perfect 4-for-4.
- Dylan Larkin leads all NHL rookies with ten goals. He is third in points with 18, which is good for second-best on the Red Wings, behind only Henrik Zetterberg‘s 20.
- Florida has now won two straight games in extra time after going 1-4 in that department to start the season.
- Speaking of extra time, the Red Wings have gone past sixty minutes four straight times. Detroit extended its point-streak to seven games (4-0-3), with six of those games going to overtime.
- Jaromir Jagr suited up after sitting out parts of Florida’s win over the Islanders on Friday. The Wings held Jagr to just one shot on goal in 15:01 TOI. The 43-year-old hasn’t lit the lamp in three straight and remains stuck on 730 career goals.
- Despite the ghastly turnover, Aleksander Barkov had a strong game, leading his team with six shots and winning 11-of-17 face-offs.
- Dylan Olsen subbed in for the injured Alex Petrovic and finished with four shots, two hits and an even rating. It was Olsen’s first NHL game since January 27, also against Detroit.
- Check out the details of the advanced stats battle at war-on-ice.
- Winging It In Motown has the other side of win number ten for the Panthers.
Highlights (courtesy of NHL.com)