5 Takeaways: Wennberg's OT Goal Sends Panthers Past Red Wings

SUNRISE, Fla. -The Panthers don't care if it's pretty as long as it's two points.
After Frank Vatrano tied the game midway through the third period, Alex Wennberg picked a corner in overtime to lift the Panthers to a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings on Thursday night.

"I think it shows a lot of character from the team right here," Wennberg said of the comeback. "Obviously, it's not always going to be pretty and it's not always going to go our way, but we somehow keep working and keep doing our part and we get rewarded... It's a huge two points."
Jumping out to an early lead on the road, the Red Wings put the Panthers into a 1-0 hole just 4:21 into the first period when Adam Erne skated into the high slot, extended his stick and re-directed a slap shot from Troy Stetcher through some traffic and over Chris Driedger's blocker.
A little over seven minutes later, Noel Acciari managed to even things up when he carved out some real estate on top of the crease, took a pass from Carter Verhaeghe, who pulled Thomas Greiss out of position, and whacked the rubber into the back of the net to make it 1-1 at 11:55.
Greiss finished with 33 saves, while Driedger stopped 25 of 27 shots he faced.
Although there were no goals to speak of during the second period, the Panthers did suffer yet another injury scare. With several key players already banged up, Jonathan Huberdeau limped off the ice near the end of the middle frame following a hit from Stetcher along the end boards.
Thankfully, he returned to the ice for the start of the third period to the sound of sighs of relief.
Putting the Red Wings back on top in the final stanza, Anthony Mantha flew into the offensive zone and unleashed a top-shelf snipe to make it a 2-1 game at 6:07. However, thanks to a delay-of-game penalty a little bit later, the Panthers were put in a position to tie things back up.
Left wide open in the right circle on the power play, Vatrano took a pass from Verhaeghe and teed up a laser of a one-timer that screamed right past Greiss to make it a 2-2 game at 10:39.
"He does have that timeliness for scoring big goals," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said of Vatrano, who is tied for first on the team with six goals scored in the third period this season.
With 60 minutes of non-stop action not being enough to decide a winner, the game eventually headed to overtime. Then, at 1:25 of the extra frame, Wennberg gathered a pass from Gustav Forsling and went top-shelf on Greiss to complete the comeback and give Florida a 3-2 victory.
On their heels throughout overtime, the Red Wings didn't register a single shot on goal.
"That's as probably as good as it gets," said Driedger, who improved to 10-4-2. "OT is always pretty intense. You've got 3-on-3, a lot of chances a lot of the time. When you see Wenny get that shot off, it's pretty nice. I've been calling him a shooter lately because he's been lighting me up in practice. It's good to see him put that shot to use, high glove. He's got a heck of a shot."
Closing out their season series on a high note, the Cats finished with a 6-2-0 mark against the Red Wings. Extending their winning streak to four games, they also improved their record on the season to 24-9-4 and remain tied with the Lightning for the most points in the Central Division.
"We had some really good games against them, some really tight games," Quenneville said of Detroit. "There were a couple early in the year where we were fortunate to come out on top, but we always had one real tough, tough game with them in each and every one of these sets."
Here are five takeaways from Thursday's overtime win in Sunrise…

1. COOKIE MONSTER

In a rare occurrence, Acciari netted just one goal tonight instead of his usual three.
Setting up shop just outside the blue paint, Acciari, who teammates call "Cookie" due to his pre-game snack ritual, shrugged off a few Red Wings shoves before taking a pinpoint set-up pass from Verhaeghe and sending the puck into the twine to make it 1-1 at 11:55 of the first period.

"We've been here before, going down early," Acciari said. "We responded well."
Dishing out five assists over his last six games, Acciari has accumulated 11 points - including netting his third-career hat trick last month - to go along with 64 hits and 44 blocks this season.
Skating 21:53 against the Red Wings tonight, he also won a game-high 14 faceoffs.

2. MORE FOR CARTER

Verhaeghe continues to find his way onto the scoresheet.
With a pair of assists during tonight's game, the 25-year-old forward now has eight points over his last four games. Helping the Panthers offense remain potent despite a plague of injuries to several key players, he's racked up five goals and three assists during that torrid stretch of play.
"It's awesome to see him have this success," Acciari said of Verhaeghe.
Going no more than three games without a point, Verhaeghe has quickly moved up Florida's scoring leaderboard and currently sits third on the team with 32 points. Of those points, 17 have come in the form of goals, which leads the team and places him in a tie for ninth in the league.
Against Detroit this season, he's recorded six points (three goals, three assists) in eight games.

3. IN THE CLUTCH

Vatrano has an ability you simply can't teach - coming up in the clutch.
With the Panthers in desperate need of a goal around the midway point of the third period, the feisty winger received a cross-ice pass from Verhaeghe and rocketed a one-timer from the right circle straight past a helpless Greiss and into the back of the net to make it a 2-2 game at 10:39.
Of Vatrano's 11 goals this season, eight have come in the third period or overtime.

"That's just the way they're going in for me right now," Vatrano said when asked about his timely scores. "It's good to get that goal to tie that game up, a good play all around. It seems that's the way it's going this year. It was good to help the team out. Everyone stepped up tonight."
Adding an assist on Wennberg's goal in overtime, Vatrano finished tonight's contest with two points, pushing his total on the season to 15 (11 goals, four assists). Firing the biscuits from all over the ice, the 27-year-old forward also led the Panthers with six shots against Detroit.
"Frankie has jump," Quenneville said. "His pace is very noticeable."

4. WENNBERG'S WINNER

Wennberg wasn't going to waste a good look like this.
Hopping over the boards with fresh legs, the 26-year-old forward skated into the center of the right circle before taking a pass from Forsling and rifling the puck over Greiss' shoulder into the top right corner of the cage to lock in a 3-2 win for the Panthers at 1:25 of the overtime period.

"I think it was just a great play," Wennberg said. "We came in from a change. A great pass by Fors, and then I thought Frankie was going to shoot. It was a great play. It worked out the way we wanted. It's a great feeling, obviously. It's a tough game. We were working hard."
Rediscovering his scoring touch in his first campaign with the Cats, Wennberg is now up to eight goals on the season, including potting a pair over his last six games. Playing in all situations, he also helped keep Detroit's power play off the board tonight while skating 2:04 on the penalty kill.
Adding to the moment, Wennberg's goal tonight was his first game-winner of the season.

5. REINFORCEMENTS

Already on a four-game winning streak, the Cats could be getting a boost soon.
Following this morning's skate, Quenneville mentioned that both Aleksander Barkov and Patric Hornqvist, who have combined for 25 goals this season, could both potentially be back in the lineup when the Panthers battle the Blue Jackets in back-to-back contests over the weekend.
"Both of them skated this morning," Quenneville said. "We're targeting this weekend."
Named the Central Division's "Player of the Month" earlier today after posting 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 11 games in March, Barkov has missed the last six games due to a lower-body injury. Prior to the injury, he'd notched 13 goals and 24 assists for 37 points in 31 games.
Hornqvist, meanwhile, has sat out the last four games after absorbing a booming hit from Nikita Zadorov during a matchup in Chicago on March 25. Off to a hot start during his first season with the Panthers, the 34-year-old veteran has posted 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in 33 games.
"The guys we lost, those are guys you can't really replace, but we've got to try and do our job best as possible every night regardless of who's playing," Vatrano said. "That's the way it's been going since those guys have been out, and now we're excited to get them back in the lineup here soon."