RECAP: Panthers 4, Red Wings 3

SUNRISE, Fla. – The fight never ends.

In the waning minutes of regulation, Carter Verhaeghe scored twice to lift the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.

Their second straight win over the Red Wings, the Panthers now sit at 32-29-3.

“There’s only one way to play, and it’s to go out and win games,” Verhaeghe said. “You’ve got to do your best. Once you start thinking about other stuff, it doesn’t really go well.”

With 18 games left, that mindset won’t change.

“It’s just not going to look the same with what we’ve been through, but we have to maintain a certain structure of what we do because it’s hard to get that,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the team’s drive moving forward. "It’s hard to establish any kind of identity.”

Keeping the Red Wings off the board early Daniil Tarasov slid from left to right to deny Lucas Raymond, who entered the night at Detroit’s points leader, on a golden opportunity.

Of Tarasov’s 25 saves, 11 came in the first period.

“He’s always good,” teammate Niko Mikkola said of Tarasov. “We can count on him every day. A pretty normal game for him.”

Making his re-debut with the Panthers after being acquired from the Minnesota Wild prior to Friday’s trade deadline, Vinnie Hinostroza, who played in nine games with the Panthers during the 2020-21 campaign, tipped in a shot from Jesper Boqvist to make it 1-0 at 9:48.

Prior to tonight, Hinostroza’s last game with the Panthers came on March 25, 2021.

“First game, you get the jitters out of the way,” Hinostroza said. “My linemates really helped me out there. Playing a different system and stuff, there’s little stuff I can focus on and do better, but that was a fun first game. That was a big win.”

Evening the score for the Red Wings early in the second period, Patrick Kane set up near the left side of the net and tapped in a loose puck past Tarasov to make it 1-1 at 3:54.

Detroit’s big addition at the trade deadline, Justin Faulk broke the tie later in the period when he roofed a backhand shot from the left circle to put the Red Wings up 2-1 at 12:59.

Netting the equalizer for the Panthers in the third period, Mikkola beat John Gibson, who was screened by Jesper Boqvist, with a shot through traffic to make it 2-2 at 5:10. But just over a minute later, Marco Kasper responded with a goal to put Detroit up 3-2 at 6:32.

Over his last two games, Mikkola has lit the lamp twice.

“I just try to get the puck to the net, hit the sticks,” Mikkola said. “Yeah, it went in. Good.”

After pulling Tarasov to gain a 6-on-5 advantage late in regulation, Verhaeghe beat Gibson with a sizzling glove-side snipe from distance to make it 3-3 at 18:30. Attacking Gibson’s glove a second time, Verhaeghe locked in the 4-3 win with a second wicked shot at 19:45.

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, the two goals came within a span of just 1:15.

“We played a good third,” said Verhaeghe, who matched a franchise record with his 14^th multi-goal period as a Panther. “I thought we put pucks to the net and had a lot of zone time. Guys were getting chances. We had tons of chances. I think we deserved to win that.”

THEY SAID IT

“It’s fun. Winning games is fun. When you go on a stretch where you lose a couple in a row, especially with the excitement coming off the Olympics, it sucks. We just want to keep that momentum going.” -- Carter Verhaeghe

"[What I’ve noticed is] just how tight it (the locker room) is. Everyone's got a job, and everyone does their job. It's fun to see." -- Vinnie Hinostroza

“Kind of a roller coaster. In the third period, we fought back,” -- Niko Mikkola

“It’s things that we’ve seen before with Carter (Verhaeghe), his ability to find the hole and get a shot off across his body to the far side of the net. Just an elite shot.” – Paul Maurice

CATS STATS

- Vinnie Hinostroza recorded his second multi-point game of the season.

- Carter Verhaeghe’s 53 go-ahead goals are the seventh-most in franchise history.

- Sam Bennett went 11-for-15 (73.3%) in the faceoff circle.

- A.J. Greer and Mackie Samoskevich each produced six hits.

- Daniil Tarasov made six high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

- The Panthers led 18-8 in shot attempts at 5-on-5 when Tomas Nosek was deployed.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will wrap up their quick two-game homestand with a battle against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.