Panthers fall in shootout
Red Wings had been winless in their last 6 games
SUNRISE — Goals, they have come in bunches at times for the Florida Panthers in the opening month of the season.
Consistency? That has been more elusive, and was the reason they went into Saturday a game below .500 (3-4).
In their first nine games, they had lost twice by four goals while on three occasions winning by three or more. That is an unusual case of schizophrenia in a league where one-goal games are the norm.
The up-and-down trend continued in a 3-2 loss in a shootout at the BB&T Center to the Detroit Red Wings, who were winless in their previous six games (0-5-1).
Gustav Nyquist scored the winner, the only player on either team to score in the shootout.
The Panthers had ample chances in regulation but were 1-for-6 on the power play.
Earlier in the week they were routed at Montreal by the Canadiens, who were on a seven-game losing streak.
“We talked about that this morning. They’re going to be desperate, like Montreal was,” Panthers coachn Bob Boughner said Saturday morning. “But for us, we talked about controlling our own game and what our good game looks like.
“We want to get on a roll ourselves. We don’t want to be a team that’s win one, lose one. We’ve got to take advantage of this homestand.”
The Panthers’ top line, jelling with Dadonov finding his stride in the spot occupied by Jaromir Jagr in recent seasons, created numerous chances in the first period without reward. Their efforts paid off just over four minutes into the second period on Huberdeau’s fourth goal of the season.
Dadonov, who had four shots in the opening period, stole the puck from defenseman Jonathan Ericsson and skated out above the right circle before fired a shot goal-ward and fired a shot deflected in by Huberdeau on the doorstep.
The goal tied it at 1 and came soon after a remarkable sequence of saves by Panthers goalie James Reimer, who thwarted Darren Helm charging in from his right, then sprawled to bat away two rebounds.
The Dadonov-Huberdeau combination struck again a few minutes later, but the goal was disallowed for goaltender interference after the Red Wings successfully challenged on the basis that Barkov was in the crease and impeded Jimmy Howard.
No matter, the Panthers went on a power play soon after that and wasted no time cashing in. Vincent Trocheck sent the puck toward the slot, where Dadonov was positioned to redirect it over the blocker of Howard for the first Florida lead of the night.
It was short-lived as Gustav Nyquist beat Aaron Ekblad on a rush through the middle of the Florida zone and scored off his own rebound to knot it 2-2 midway through the second.
The first period was painful for the Panthers, and their 1-0 deficit after 20 minutes was the least of it. Centers Trocheck and Denis Malgin both left temporarily with injuries.
Trocheck, who began the night tied for the team lead in points, blocked a slap shot and departed unable to put weight on one leg. He returned before the end of the period.
Malgin took a puck in the face on his first shift and headed directly to the dressing room. He returned in the second period.
At the same time Trocheck was hurt, the Panthers found themselves on a 5-on-3 disadvantage for two minutes after a goalie interference call on Huberdeau and a delay penalty for a faceoff violation. They killed the penalties with Reimer stopping five shots.
The Red Wings took the lead 5½ minutes into the game when Andreas Athanasiou hammered a one-timer from the slot. The play was made by Dylan Larkin, who stripped the puck from Panthers defenseman Alex Petrovic behind the net and fired a pinpoint pass from the corner to Athanasiou.