Colton Sceviour leads Panthers past Red Wings

DETROIT-- Colton Sceviour scored the first hat trick of his NHL career and had an assist to help the Florida Panthers to a 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena on Sunday.
"That was exciting; I can't even remember the last hat trick I scored," Sceviour said. "I can't take too much credit though. I think all three goals were shots from the blue."
The Panthers ended a three-game losing streak and are 6-1-1 in their past eight games in Detroit.

"I don't know how to explain it, because Detroit always has great teams," said Panthers coach Gerard Gallant, who played nine seasons with the Red Wings. "We just seem to play great hockey in this building."
Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist for Florida (4-4-1) and Jonathan Marchessault scored. James Reimer made 34 saves in his first win for the Panthers.
"We knew we hadn't played the way we needed to play in the first three games of the trip," Reimer said. "The guys really turned it around though."

Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek was pulled after allowing four goals on 10 shots. Jimmy Howard made 13 saves in relief.
The Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the first period when Sceviour scored twice in 23 seconds. The first came on a Florida power play, when he tipped Trocheck's feed past Mrazek at 6:09.
Sceviour was at the edge of the crease again at 6:32, knocking in a rebound for his fourth goal of the season. Three of them have come against Mrazek.
Florida took a 3-0 lead when Marchessault finished off a 2-on-1 break at 17:29 of the first, sliding Denis Malgin's feed past Mrazek. The goal was Marchessault's sixth of the season, tying him for the NHL lead.

"We were not good enough in the first period," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We didn't compete hard enough and we didn't execute well enough, and we got ourselves down 3-0. After that, you are just digging yourself out."
Dylan Larkin made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 2:36 of the second, but the Red Wings (6-4-0) continued to struggle against Trocheck, Sceviour and Reilly Smith.

Trocheck gave Florida a 4-1 lead with a wrist shot at 5:02, ending Mrazek's night.
"Obviously, I have to be better," Mrazek said. "I didn't have many shots, but we didn't play the way we wanted. They were on us, we made some turnovers and they scored the goals."
Sceviour finished off his hat trick at 16:25 of the second, making it 5-1 with a shorthanded goal to go along his power-play and even-strength goals.
Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith made it 5-2 with a power-play goal at 10:03 of the third.

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Goal of the game

With Florida on the power play, Sceviour broke to the net just in time to tap in Trocheck's hard pass across the top of the crease for his first of three goals.

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Save of the game

Shortly after he entered the game, Howard was forced to make a point-blank save when Malgin got to a loose puck in front of the net and took an uncontested wrist shot.

Highlight of the game

With the Panthers leading 4-1, Sceviour and Jason Demers turned a Red Wings power play into a 2-on-1 break going the other way. Howard stopped the first shot, but Red Wings center Frans Nielsen crashed into his goaltender, and Sceviour put the puck into the empty net to complete his hat trick. "That went better than I expected," Sceviour said. "I was just trying to get something on net, and it came right back to me with no goalie."

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Unsung moment of the game

Howard came into the game with little chance to help the Red Wings win, but he kept the final score respectable by making 14 saves on 15 shots. He has a .974 save percentage in four games this season.

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They said it

"I think teams are coming in here with a lot more urgency that we have. I've got to be better at preparing the guys." -- Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg
"This wasn't a 5-2 game. It was more like a 6-5 game, and I'm not sure who would have had the six, but Reimer bailed us out." -- Panthers coach Gerard Gallant

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Need to know

Smith's third-period goal was his first since Dec. 31, 2015 against the Montreal Canadiens. Smith's younger brother, Reilly, had an assist on Florida's second goal. … Sceviour's hat trick was Florida's first since Tomas Kopecky against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 26, 2013.

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What's next

Panthers: Home against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, NESN, TVA Sports,
NHL.TV
)
Red Wings: At the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVA Sports,
NHL.TV
)