RECAP: Red Wings can't regain momentum in 5-4 loss to Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Still searching for their first win on this four-game road trip, the Detroit Red Wings allowed four unanswered goals in a 5-4 loss to the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday night.

“I don’t think we lost our poise,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “We lost our momentum that we worked really hard to earn in the first 40 minutes of the game. A team like that, that’s won cups recently and has that type of cache, they take advantage of that, and we’re still learning how to deal with it. There’s been games this year where we didn’t have it and we went back and got it, so we got that down. But today, we gave it back.”

Goaltenders John Gibson and Akira Schmid both stopped 24 shots in this Atlantic Division matchup, which ultimately saw Detroit (7-10-3; 17 points) drop its fifth straight game and Florida (11-7-2; 24 points) win its second in a row.

“We frustrated them when we were up 4-1,” J.T. Compher said. “They continued to ramp up the pressure, and it seemed like we sat into it a lot. We kind of accepted it. We need to break a little more confidence with the puck.”

The Red Wings struck back just 15 seconds after Sam Reinhart’s backhand shot kicked off the game's scoring for the Panthers at 3:52 of the first period, as Compher was sprung on a breakaway and slid home a backhand of his own to make it 1-1. 

 Moritz Seider and Carter Mazur recorded the assists on the 31-year-old forward’s third goal of the season. Since Oct. 22, Compher has tallied seven points (three goals, four assists) in 11 games.

Then at 13:14, Andreas Englund watched his wrist shot from the point go off the stick of Seth Jones and into the back of Florida’s net — the 30-year-old defenseman’s first tally of the campaign and first in an NHL game since Oct. 17, 2024 — to push his club in front 2-1.  

Detroit, which also doubled up Florida in shots (12-6) in the first 20 minutes, carried that momentum into the start of the second period and tacked on another goal just 17 seconds in to build a 3-1 lead. Assisted by Andrew Copp, Lucas Raymond netted his seventh of the season on a wrist shot from the high slot that also went off Jones and behind Schmid.  

“Any shot is a good shot with bodies and sticks going to the net,” Compher said. “Sometimes, you get rewarded. Like tonight, a couple good bounces. The more you do it, the more chances you have.”

Detroit, which also doubled up Florida in shots (12-6) in the first 20 minutes, carried that momentum into the start of the second period and tacked on another goal just 17 seconds in to build a 3-1 lead. Assisted by Andrew Copp, Lucas Raymond netted his seventh of the season on a wrist shot from the high slot that also went off Jones and behind Schmid.  

“Any shot is a good shot with bodies and sticks going to the net,” Compher said. “Sometimes, you get rewarded. Like tonight, a couple good bounces. The more you do it, the more chances you have.”

There was 14:35 left before the second intermission when Alex DeBrincat and Sam Bennett exchanged haymakers in front of the penalty boxes, and 7:52 to play when Marco Kasper deflected William Wallinder’s shot from above the left face-off circle to make it 4-1. Seider recorded the secondary helper on Kasper’s first goal of the season.

“It’s a little difficult coming back, missing a lot of games, but I feel pretty good,” Kasper said. “I got to skate while I was off, so just trying to get up to game speed. I’m playing with really good players. I’m just trying to make the right plays, find the timing and play as good as I can.”

But the tide gradually began to turn towards the Panthers late in the second period, starting when Gustav Forsling sneaked a wrist shot past a screened Gibson to cut their deficit to 4-2 at 19:42. They kept pushing coming out of the second break, and Anton Lundell’s first goal of the third period made it 4-3 at 2:32 of the third.

Florida eventually tied it 4-4 at 16:29 when Lars Eller batted a puck out of the air at the back door, then took its first and only lead of the night just 51 seconds later thanks to Lundell’s second of the frame off a no-look pass from Brady Tkachuck.

Asked how Detroit can still end its current trek on a high note, Compher said, “We have to. We have no other choice.”

POSTGAME QUOTES

McLellan on how he would sum up Thursday’s game

“Momentum’s a funny thing in sport. We had all of it until the goal at the end of the second period. A chance to regroup coming out of the third, and then we take a penalty 30 seconds in a long way from our net. And now, they get rolling. We’re on our heels a little bit. I thought we settled down for a while. We just couldn’t sustain it enough. We lost that aggressiveness to go the other way. We were trying to play mistake-free hockey, and they capitalized.”

Compher on holding leads

“We didn’t do a good enough job attacking in the third period. Sat back too much.”

Kasper on how the Red Wings can regroup as quickly as possible

“We only have one day between games, so it’s always a quick regroup. We’re definitely going to talk about the game, but after we’re just going to try to put it behind us and focus on the next game as fast as possible.”