Gustav Nyquist tied the game midway through the second period and scored the only goal in the shootout to give the visiting Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers.
Jimmy Howard made 44 saves, 35 of them in the first forty-minutes, to help his club snap a six-game losing streak.
Despite getting out-shot 18-11 in the first period, the Red Wings came up with the only goal when Anthony Mantha knocked the puck away from Alex Petrovic to teammate Dylan Larkin, who fed Andreas Athanasiou for a big one-time blast at the 5:28 mark.
Jonathan Huberdeau tied the tilt with a deflection 4:18 into the second period. The goal came after Evgenii Dadonov stole the puck from Jonathan Ericsson in the corner and moved out to point before throwing the vulcanized rubber towards the net where Hubderdeau gained position and finished.
It looked like Huberdeau scored again, but the goal was rightly waived off because Aleksander Barkov interfered with Howard.
Dadonov bagged a goal of his own at 8:23 of the middle frame when he put himself dead center in the slot to redirect Vincent Trocheck’s pass by Howard. Aaron Ekblad drew the secondary assist on Dadonov’s fifth of the season, which came with Athanasiou off for holding.
With the momentum going against his club, Nyquist evened things up with an end-to-end rush that saw the speedy forward knock a rebound past James Reimer after Aaron Ekblad inadvertently put the puck on his own goal.
Neither team could find the net in the third period or a wild, back-and-forth overtime, so the game went to the shootout where Nyquist scored the only goal by beating Reimer between the pads for the winner after Howard denied Trocheck, Barkov and Radim Vrbata.
The Panthers played well and were the better team, but once again, a lack of finishing power cost the team a crucial point. Division-leading Tampa Bay is up next on the homestand, with the two Florida franchises set to tussle for a third time on Monday night.
Full Highlights (courtesy of NHL.com)
Gears & Spokes
- Evgenii Dadonov was Florida’s best player, posting a goal and an assist to tie Vincent Trocheck and Jonathan Huberdeau for the team scoring lead with 11 points. Dadonov equaled Gustav Nyquist with a game-high 7 seven shots.
- Detroit had not won since a 6-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on October 13. The Red Wings are still the only team to defeat the 8-1 expansion club.
- The Panthers’ penalty kill was perfect for a second straight game, foiling all three of Detroit’s chances, including a full two-minute 5-on-3 in the first period.
- Owen Tippett followed his first goal against Anaheim with a five-shot performance. The rookie was -1 on the night, but that’s all on Alex Petrovic.
- Andreas Athanasiou’s goal was his first of the campaign and came in his second game played in 2017-18. He missed the first ten games of the season while waiting for a new contract.
- While Jimmy Howard essentially stole the game for the Red Wings, James Reimer delivered a quality start too, finishing with 36 saves, including some dandy stops in overtime.
- Chase Balisy made his NHL debut and registered two shots on goal and a hit in 10:47 TOI.
- Panic in Detroit? Not after this win. The folks at Winging It In Motown have you covered with the other side of this very exciting contest between the division rivals./