RECAP: Appleton, Talbot lead the way as Red Wings take down Panthers, 4-1

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings held their own against the two-time defending Stanley-Cup champions, capturing a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night highlighted by a pair of goals from Mason Appleton, 20 saves from goalie Cam Talbot and a perfect 2-for-2 showing on the penalty kill.

“Wins are coming in different ways,” said Appleton, who recorded his first multi-point game while donning the Winged Wheel and what also marked his third career NHL multi-goal game. “Guys are stepping up. We have a goaltender who’s playing great hockey, so there’s a lot of different recipes to win in this League. We’re displaying that, but at the same time we’re trying to build towards a playoff-style game and game that fits our roster.”

The Red Wings (3-1-0; 6 points) won their third consecutive contest, while the Panthers (3-2-0; 6 points) dropped their second in a row. Since Jan. 16, 2025, Detroit is 3-1-0 against Florida.

“Sometimes, the goaltender needs to win you one,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “Sometimes, teams win you one. Special teams have won us one the last couple nights, we’ve ended up on the positive side, so we should be confident but far from arrogant.”

The Atlantic Division clubs went scoreless in the first period, with Detroit outshooting Florida 9-8. The Red Wings' best scoring opportunity came with a minute left in the frame, when Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky denied captain Dylan Larkin on a 2-on-1 rush chance from the bottom of the left face-off circle.

Continuing to make quite the early impact on Detroit’s top line, Appleton one-timed Larkin’s pass from his knees in the right face-off circle to make it 1-0 just 2:09 into the second period. For Appleton, who’s been entrusted into a different role with Lucas Raymond (upper body) currently day-to-day, it was his second goal in as many games.

“Being in the right place at the right time, that’s something I’ve noticed playing with [Appleton] and he seems to be able to skate,” Larkin said. “I’ve really enjoyed playing with him. It’s been one-plus game, but he’s brought some straight lines and a good veteran presence on our line.”

With the Red Wings on a 5-on-3 power player a little later in the middle frame, Patrick Kane beat Bobrovsky with a laser of a wrist shot following a face-off to double their lead to 2-0 at 9:36. Kane’s second goal of the campaign, and 494th of his NHL career, was assisted by Moritz Seider and Larkin.

“I think something we’ve been doing well is that we’ve been a good second-period team,” Larkin said. “I don’t know what the numbers say about that, but we’ve really built momentum, tried to change quick on them, keep their D pinned in and create O-zone buzz.”

The Panthers got one back less than five minutes later, as Brad Marchand got to the puck at the left half-wall and proceeded to score a wrap-around goal to make it 2-1 at 14:05 of the second period.

McLellan said he liked his Detroit’s response after Florida cut its deficit back to one.

“I thought we did a good job there,” McLellan said. “They had some pressure. They’re going to do that to you. They scored, but it was kind of a ‘What just happened?’-type goal with the face-off and the walk-around. A little bit of a missed assignment and that’s probably one Talbs would tell you he’d like to have back. I thought we settled down. There was no panic or over-excitement.”

Fending off the Panthers the rest of the way, the Red Wings closed things out with two empty-net goals late in the third period after Bobrovsky, who finished with 21 saves, was pulled.

Appleton put the Red Wings ahead 3-1 at 18:02, cashing in on the open crease for his second goal of the night. He was assisted by Michael Rasmussen and Alex DeBrincat. Then, 18 seconds before the final horn sounded, Rasmussen got the puck from DeBrincat and found the empty net for the 4-1 final.

“We played, probably, five of the last minutes short because they pulled their goalie a couple times,” McLellan said. “But some poise, some smart plays and some good body position on loose, scrambly-type pucks. We didn’t cheat on the offensive side or go fishing.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will host the Tampa Bay Lightning for Star Wars Night at Little Caesars Arena on Friday.

WHAT WAS SAID

Larkin on if a win like Wednesday’s goes a long way

“Yeah, absolutely. Every win goes a long way. The back-to-back champs-- that’s a good hockey team over there. We were down without Lucas and guys stepped up. Power play was still good. We didn’t just sit back the whole third. We had some chances, pressed, skated. Every win is big, but it does feel good, especially at home, to beat the back-to-back champs.”

Larkin on the importance of getting off to a good start this season

“Last time I talked, [Opening Night] was a head scratcher. I don’t want to dwell in the past, but the response we’ve had says a lot. We got challenged right away, from Day 1, about being mentally resilient and mentally tough. I think we’ve all shown it and showed that we’re capable of it. We’ve shown we can play with a lead and showed when we’re not playing well, we can get some saves from our goaltending and steal games that way. We’ve really done it with our depth in different ways as well.”

Appleton on Detroit’s penalty kill this season

“The PK has been really good. We’ve been building a lot of confidence, too. You give up a couple, say early in the season, you can’t feel good and your mindset shifts a little bit. But, when you’re building and getting kills, you stay aggressive. You don’t think as much. You just make the simple reads. Your sticks and bodies are in the right spot.”