Panthers score four in first period, cruise past Red Wings

DETROIT --The Florida Panthers scored four first-period goals and defeated the Detroit Red Wings 7-2 at Little Caesars Arena on Friday.

Patric Hornqvist scored twice, Aleksander Barkov had a goal and two assists, and Keith Yandle had three assists for the Panthers (11-2-2), who have won five of their past six games. Chris Driedger made 30 saves, MacKenzie Weegar had a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists.
"We were all over them in the first period and we were rewarded," Hornqvist said. "When we're playing the right way, we're as good as anyone, and we're showing that right now."

Bobby Ryan and Valtteri Filppula scored, and Robby Fabbri had two assists for the Red Wings (4-12-3), who have two wins in their past 15 games. Thomas Greiss allowed four goals on 13 shots before being replaced to start the second period by Jonathan Bernier, who made 23 saves.
"We were terrible," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said.
Detroit (0-for-4) did not score a power-play goal for the 11th straight game, its longest streak since the first 11 games of the 1950-51 season.
"This just isn't acceptable," Red Wings center Frans Nielsen said. "I thought we were starting to figure out what it takes to win, but we were losing 1-on-1 battles all over the ice."
The teams play again here Saturday (5 p.m. ET; FS-D, FS-F, NHL.TV).
Juho Lammikko gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 6:09 of the first period, scoring from the top of the slot. It was his second goal in two games after he didn't score in his first 47 NHL games.
Weegar made it 2-0 at 7:58, scoring off a pass from Huberdeau. Hornqvist extended the lead to 3-0 at 12:45, tapping in Yandle's pass at the right post.
Ryan pulled Detroit within 3-1 at 14:06 with his first goal in 15 games. Barkov pushed in a rebound 1:09 later to make it 4-1 at 15:15.
"This was a good night," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said after Florida scored a season high in goals. "We want to keep building off this, because the better we are playing, the more fun it is."

Aaron Ekblad made it 5-1 at 19:38 of the second period with a slap shot from the left face-off circle. Filppula cut it to 5-2 at 2:49 of the third period on a shot that deflected off the stick of Panthers forward Anthony Duclair.
"On the ice, I told [Driedger] it was my fault," Duclair said. "After the game, I told him he should have stopped it."
Hornqvist scored a power-play goal at 5:50, knocking in the rebound of Barkov's shot to make it 6-2. Duclair scored at 8:56 for the 7-2 final.
"We had all four lines rolling and buzzing around out there tonight," Duclair said. "It's good to see that kind of offense from all those guys."
NOTES: Blashill said after the game that longtime Red Wings masseur Sergei Tchekmarev died Friday. He had been part of the training staff since 1998 after working with the Russia national team. … Detroit is 0-for-33 on the power play in its 11-game drought. … Ryan last scored Jan. 19 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. … The Panthers tied their record with the four first-period goals, the 19th time in their 27-season history they have scored that many in a regular-season game.