Bobrovsky makes 22 saves, Panthers shut out Red Wings

DETROIT -- Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves for the Florida Panthers in a 2-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday.

It was Bobrovsky’s first shutout of the season and 39th of his NHL career in his 650th game.

“I’m obviously not thinking about my personal achievements or my career achievements out there,” he said. “That’s a good team that is ahead of us in the standings, and we have to work hard to catch them.”

Steven Lorentz and Anton Lundell each scored his first goal of the season for Florida (5-3-1), which extended its point streak to four games (3-0-1).

“We have to grind a little bit to score right now, but that’s fine,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We’re learning how to battle and grind, and we’re a pretty good defensive team even with a lot of new faces in our lineup.”

Aleksander Barkov played his 672nd game with the Panthers, passing Jonathan Huberdeau for the most in their history. Barkov is also Florida’s leader in goals (245) and points (639).

He won 12 of 14 face-offs (85.7 percent) and had four shots on goal in 21:43 of ice time.

“He’s a great offensive player, but I don’t think many people see how high his hockey IQ is,” Bobrovsky said. “He can do anything on the ice -- offense and defense. If I gave him my goalie gear, he would be great at that too.”

James Reimer made 25 saves for Detroit (6-4-1), which has lost four of five (1-3-1).

“The engagement is there; emotionally, we are in these games,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “We just have to execute. We bobbled pucks at key times, and we forced it at key times.”

Florida outshot Detroit 9-0 in the first 9:50 of the game, but Reimer made several key saves.

“His first period was huge,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “They had some really good looks, but he kept us in the game. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get some goals for him.”

Detroit nearly took the lead at 10:00 of the second period, but Bobrovsky made a point-blank save against David Perron, then kicked the loose puck away from the goal line.

Lorentz gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 19:08 when his wrist shot went off the tip of Reimer’s glove, hit the crossbar and fell in the crease. Reimer knocked it into the net while trying to find it, giving Lorentz his first point of the season.

“It’s huge to get a goal in the first or last minute of a period; that can be a real backbreaker for a team,” Lorentz said. “So, I was trying to shoot hard on net and I got a bounce.”

Michael Rasmussen nearly tied it for the Red Wings at 1:56 of the third period, but his shot from the edge of the crease hit the near goal post while Bobrovsky was caught out of position.

Lundell scored an empty-net goal at 18:48 for the 2-0 final.

NOTES: Florida has won 10 straight against Detroit since the 2020-21 season. … Each team went 0-for-5 on the power play; the Red Wings are 0-for-17 in their past four games.