Red Wings hold off Panthers, split two-game set

DETROIT -- Jonathan Bernier made 38 saves, and Mathias Brome scored his first NHL goal to help the Detroit Red Wings defeat the Florida Panthers 2-1 at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.

"It was nice to get my first NHL goal, and it was even better because this was an important night for everyone here," Brome said.
The win came one night after the Red Wings (5-12-3) lost 7-2 here to the Panthers before learning of the death of longtime team masseuse Sergei Tchekmarev.
"This was a very, very difficult 24 hours for all of us," Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. "It was a tough night on the ice, which happens in this league, but then we lost a friend. I tried hard and I know a lot of our guys tried hard to come to the rink tonight with the same enthusiasm that [Tchekmarev] had every day."
Alexander Wennberg scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for the Panthers (11-3-2), who had won three straight. It was their first regulation loss on the road (6-1-1) this season.
"We had a chance to have a perfect road trip, so we lost a little bit of excitement tonight," Florida coach Joel Quenneville said. "We gave them two free goals and that was the difference."

Wennberg gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 14:17 of the first period. It was Florida's seventh power-play goal against Detroit in six games this season. The Red Wings have scored four power-play goals in their 20 games and are 0-for-35 in their past 12.
Patrik Nemeth tied it 1-1 at 10:09 of the second period, beating Bobrovsky from the left face-off dot for his first goal in 71 games.
"It's big for us to keep spreading the scoring out," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "[Brome] has had a lot of chances that could have gone in, but now he's got that off his shoulder, and [Nemeth] is always really smart about getting in areas to shoot."

Brome gave Detroit a 2-1 lead at 17:27 of the second on a rebound. It was his first NHL point in his 18th game.
"I'm old enough to know things will get better as long as you are creating chances," the 26-year-old said. "My first year in Sweden, I didn't have a point for 14 or 15 games, so I've done this before. It was frustrating, but I would have only worried if I wasn't creating chances."
The Panthers generated 14 shots in the second period, but forward Frank Vatrano said the Red Wings outplayed them.
"I thought we had a flat second period," he said. "Obviously, they were the hungrier team after what happened yesterday, and when you take a period off, this is what happens."

The Panthers nearly tied it at 11:47 of the third period, but Bernier stopped Anton Stralman's point shot before making a pad save on Carter Verhaeghe's rebound attempt.
"I think Jonathan Bernier was the story of this game," Larkin said. "He's been on a great run for us, so it was nice to get him a win."