RECAP: Panthers 3, Red Wings 1

DETROIT – Fueled by Matthew Tkachuk’s sixth-career hat trick and an outstanding 28-save performance from Sergei Bobrovsky, the Florida Panthers closed out their road trip on a high note with a 3-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Friday.

Snapping out of a four-game slide, the Panthers now sit at 31-29-3.

“For us to come in here at the end of a road trip, back-to-back, and play a team that’s fighting for their life and take a win in regulation and try to play spoiler, I guess that’s what we’re going to try to do the rest of the year,” Tkachuk said.

Prior to Friday’s trade deadline, Bobrovksy’s name had been part of swirling rumors around the NHL.

Of course, the Panthers are happy the future Hall of Famer stayed put.

"There's no other goalie we want to play in front of,” Tkachuk said of Bobrovsky’s importance to the group. “He's the backbone. He's the biggest reason why we have 2 Stanley Cup rings. He's one of the biggest reasons why this organization is where it's at."

Keeping the home team off the board with a massive stop early in the first period, Bobrovsky shut his five-hole to deny Red Wings rookie Emmitt Finnie on a breakaway.

Breaking the ice for the Panthers, Tkachuk took a tape-to-tape feed from Carter Verhaeghe and one-timed a shot past John Gibson from the slot to make it 1-0 at 11:06

Over his last eight games, Tkachuk has logged at least one point six times.

With the whistles starting to blow in their favor, the Red Wings managed to pull even with the Panthers on an extended 5-on-3 power play. After Patrick Kane fired a shot off the glass, Alex DeBrincat batted the floating puck past Bobrovsky to make it 1-1 at 10:56.

After that, the Panthers killed off the remaining 1:32 of a 5-on-4 power play for Detroit.

Making their push in the middle frame, the Red Wings led 10-4 in shots on goal.

Just 35 seconds into the third period, the Panthers regained the lead when Tkachuk tipped in a shot from Sam Reinhart on the power play to make it 2-1. Earning his second multi-goal game of the campaign, Tkachuk ranks seventh in franchise history in multi-goal games (17).

“It shows you how many games you missed that, the first 50 or whatever he missed,” head coach Paul Maurice said of Tkachuk’s impact since he returned from offseason surgery. “That ability to finish -- his hands. If he gives you one or two of those games a month, that’s 15 points. We missed it. We’re glad to see it and glad he’s back.”

Coming up in the clutch, Bobrovsky kept the Red Wings from netting the equalizer minutes later when he laid out to deny Dylan Larkin on a rebound from the right side of the crease. Not done there, Bobrovsky then stopped Kane on quick re-direction with an acrobatic lunge to his right.

Those were two of eight high-danger saves for Bobrovsky, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

With just over five minutes left in regulation, the Panthers stood tall on the penalty kill, allowing just one shot on goal over the entire two minutes against Detroit’s power play.

“Obviously, big at the end,” forward Eetu Luostarinen said of the win-securing kill. “We’ve been on the body, pressuring hard, so it’s hard for them to make plays. Off entries, too, we want to be aggressive. I think it’s been working pretty good.”

With 1:52 left, Tkachuk made it 3-1 and secured his hat trick with an empty-net goal.

“This is a weird year,” Tkachuk said. “We're not going to make any excuses, but we all know one of the biggest reasons for why we are where we are with all the man games lost. ... I promise we're going to be back to there at some point.”

THEY SAID IT

“It’s more fun to win than lose. We’ll try to carry this over.” – Eetu Luostarinen on ending the road trip with a win

“The outside was noise. It was that. It always affects you because you have a wife, kids, things, but absolutely not surprised that he played as well as he did tonight because he’s been in the most pressure-filled game in our sport, a Game 7, and shut the door. He has that great ability.” – Paul Maurice on Sergei Bobrovsky’s performance

"We're all going to wine and dine him if it gets closer to a decision if nothing's there. All 20 guys are going to go up to him and try to get him to come back. We need him. We want him. Not only for his play on the ice. He's one of the best guys in the world." – Matthew Tkachuk on Sergei Bobrovsky being a pending unrestricted free agent

CATS STATS

- Matthew Tkachuk has recorded nine points (5G, 4A) over his last six games.

- Tomas Nosek had a team-high five hits.

- Every Panthers defenseman blocked at least one shot.

- The Panthers led 13-11 in shots on goal in the third period.

- Jesper Boqvist posted a team-high 65 CF% at 5-on-5.

- The Panthers improved to 12-3-0 when scoring first on the road.

WHAT’S NEXT?

After taking a few days to recover from the road, the Panthers will host the Red Wings at Amerant Bank Arena for a culmination of their home-and-home on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.