SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers saw their winning streak snapped at three games with a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.
With the loss, the Panthers now sit at 8-5-2.
“I think that was a really strong game by Detroit,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “I wasn't in love with ours.”
Netting the first goal of his NHL career, rookie Carter Mazur broke the ice for the Red Wings when he buried a quick snipe from the left circle to make it 1-0 at 5:26 of the first period.
After being robbed on a few earlier attempts by former Panthers goaltender Daniil Tarasov, Sam Reinhart broke through and evened the score with a wrist shot from the slot to make it 1-1 at 14:19.
Catching fire, Reinhart has scored in three straight games.
Putting the Red Wings back on top early in the second period, Alex DeBrincat touched the twine on an odd-man rush to make it 2-1 at 1:26 with his seventh goal of the campaign.
On their second penalty kill of the period, the Panthers got multiple massive saves from Markstrom before going on the offensive. With a few seconds left on Detroit’s power play, Aaron Ekblad banked a shot off Tarasov’s skate and in to even the score at 2-2 at 15:25.
In the middle frame, Markstrom made six stops on the penalty kill. His first game back from an upper-body injury, the veteran goaltender finished with 24 saves.
“I feel like when you don't play for a bit, it's a little tougher, but you can't just pick up wherever you left off if you miss eleven days, twelve days or whatever it was,” said Markstrom, who had last played on Oct. 17. “But, you know, body feels good and it was fun to get back there. I wish the result was a little different.”
Sparking a push for the Red Wings in the third period, Justin Faulk blasted a slap shot past a screened Markstrom on the power play to make it 3-2 at 2:08. Less than a minute later, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård lit the lamp to double Detroit’s advantage to 4-2 at 2:53.
After pulling Markstrom to gain a 6-on-5 advantage late in regulation, Sam Bennett went to the net and deposited a slick pass from Matthew Tkachuk to cut the deficit to 4-3 at 16:40.
But with only a few seconds remaining on the clock, Emmitt Finnie locked in Detroit’s 5-3 win with an empty-net goal.
In defeat, the Panthers led 43-23 in scoring chances.
“There's not easy puck movement for us right now,” Maurice said. “We're just slow with some things. It’s a hard one to describe. I thought in the first thirty minutes, they (the Red Wings) were fairly opportunistic in what we gave them. The power plays for both teams were the best opportunities to score. There wasn't a lot of offense either way, but I didn't think we did enough to generate on our end.”
THEY SAID IT
“It just shows how good this division is. We've talked about it. We're going to get everybody's best. All the teams in the Atlantic are good teams. When you get their best, you have to match it.” – Paul Maurice on the depth of the Atlantic Division
“I feel like every team in the NHL, they’ve got players and have good teams. If you look at the standings, it's tight. We know we need to get some divisional wins to pull away here.” – Jacob Markstrom on the tightness of the Atlantic Division
CATS STATS
- Sam Reinhart extended his point streak to four games.
- Aaron Ekblad scored the third shorthanded goal of his career.
- Lars Eller has a point in three of his last four games.
- Matthew Tkachuk has at least one point in 12 of his last 14 games.
- The Panthers led 4.58-3.96 in expected goals, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Panthers will try to start a new winning streak when they host the Chicago Blackhawks for a nationally televised matchup at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
For tickets, click HERE.
