Reimer injured as Florida win streak ends
Goalie returns briefly, then sits out third period of blowout.
ST. PAUL, MINN. — Matt Cullen and Eric Staal each scored twice as the Minnesota Wild beat Florida 5-1 on Tuesday night, snapping the Panthers’ fivegame winning streak.
Panthers goalie James Reimer allowed two goals before leaving the game during the second period with an injury after defenseman Aaron Ekblad and Wild forward Mikael Granlund fell on him.
Harri Sateri made his NHL debut in replacing Reimer, allowing one goal that put the Wild ahead 3-0. Reimer returned after 3:26 of game time and finished the second period, but Sateri played the third and finished with 13 saves for the game.
Reimer was a big part of the winning streak. With Roberto Luongo out since Dec. 7 with a lower-body injury, Reimer has started 12 straight games and had shutouts in two of the past three.
Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau made it 4-1 in the third period with his 14th goal.
Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves for Minnesota, which has won three of four games. Charlie Coyle added an empty-net goal and Jared Spurgeon had three assists. Left wing Zach Parise made his season debut after missing the first 39 games while recovering from back surgery in October.
Staal had his fourth multigoal game of the season and leads the Wild with 17 goals. Cullen had his first multi-goal game since April 7, 2016, and doubled his season output.
Florida had five of the game’s first six shots on goal, but the Wild peppered Reimer and Sateri for 40 minutes and had a 32-9 advantage in shots after two periods.
The Wild’s 19 shots in the second set a team high for a period this season.