The Florida Panthers put the Detroit Red Wings on the brink of elimination, and avoided the dreaded season-series sweep, with an effective 4-1 victory at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.
Detroit opened the scoring when Dylan Larkin chased down Ben Chiarot’s dump-in and found Alex DeBrincat in front. DeBrincat flicked the no-look pass past Sergei Bobrovsky for his team-leading 36th goal of the season at the 6:13 mark.
Evan Rodrigues would equalize 2:58 into the second with Michael Rasmussen off for holding. After receiving a pass from Nate Schmidt, eRod took the puck towards the net before slipping a shot between Cam Talbot’s arm and body. Gustav Forsling earned the secondary assist on Rodrigues’ first goal since March 1.
The Panthers took the lead at 6:46 when Uvis Balinskis sent the puck around the boards and it came to Forsling at the opposite point. Forsling moved to the middle and had his shot blocked by J.T. Compher, but the puck came to Mackie Samoskevich, who collected, spun around and fired off a wicked wrister that eluded Talbot’s reaching glove.
It took eight games for Brad Marchand to get his first goal as a Panther and it was a sweet one. After turning the puck over in the offense zone, the Rat and the Cats regained possession, thanks to a diving Forsling, and quickly turned the play around. Eetu Luostarinen head-manned to Balinskis, and he slipped a perfect pass to the rushing Marchand, who deftly chucked a forehand shot over Talbot’s mitt with 3:39 to go in the frame.
Florida would complete the scoring with 5:57 left in the tilt when Aleksander Barkov deflected Seth Jones’ shot from the blue line off the ice and by Talbot following an offensive zone faceoff win by Sam Reinhart.
The Panthers had gone fourteen games in a row without scoring four goals in regulation until Barkov lit the lamp to reach the 20-goal plateau for the tenth consecutive season.
It was another suffocating defensive effort from the Cats, who limited the Red Wings to 23 shots on goal and left Detroit in the unenviable position of needing to win out while Montreal loses its remaining four games in regulation.
Florida moved within one point of the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division, with the Bolts holding a game in hand. The Lightning will host the Red Wings tonight at Amalie Arena.
Starts & Stalls
- Scoring on his only shot on goal was enough for Brad Marchand to earn the First Star nod from the media. After going five games without a point, Marchand has gotten on the score sheet in his last two outings.
- Florida’s defense corps totaled six assists during the game, with Gustav Forsling and Uvis Balinskis collecting two helpers apiece, while Seth Jones and Nate Schmidt each had one.
- Evan Rodrigues and Mackie Samoskevich notched their 15th goals. Rodrigues’ marker got him to 30 points while Forsling’s helper on Samoskevich’s game-winner put the slick Swedish blue-liner at 30 points as well.
- Patrick Kane matched Forsling and Jonah Gadjovich with a game-high four shots on goal. The 36-year-old veteran was also credited with a block and two hits.
- Sergei Bobrovsky finished up with 22 saves to earn his 33rd win. Bobrovksy made a big stop on Kane with time running out in the first to keep Detroit from doubling its lead.
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