Panthers brush off Red Wings

In Sunrise, the Florida Panthers scored three goals in the first period and defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 on Monday night,

“It’s as bad as we’ve played defensively in a while,” Detroit head coach Jeff Blashill said. “We weren’t at our best. We had a bunch of guys that played their B and C games.”

On a night of early scoring in the NHL, Jonathan Huberdeau scored with just 17 seconds gone in the game for a 1-0 Panthers lead.

Carter Verhaeghe scored the first of his two goals on the night for 2-0 lead.

“There’s a lot of games, so you get a lot of puck touches and everything, so you’re kind of feeling confident with the puck,” Verhaeghe said. “But, yeah, the team has been doing well. We’re on a three-game win streak here, which is nice after a three-game losing streak, and it shows the resilience of the team for sure.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 35 saves to get the win.

“We [were] short, we missed a few guys, a few key guys, but I think it’s also opened up the opportunity for other guys to play bigger roles, play bigger minutes and earn their spot in the lineup,” Bobrovsky said. “It’s good, and it’s also some adversity for us to overcome to get together and be strong.”

Filip Zadina scored the Wings only goal when he made the score 3-1.

“You have to get settled and it went bam, bam, bam,” Blashill said. “He never had a chance to get settled.”

Brett Connolly scored the third goal of the opening frame for the 3-0 lead.

“It’s good to see one go in the net,” Connolly said. “I had some chances the last couple of games, but the team is playing well. It’s good to see the guys step up with losing a key player and guys filling in and playing a really good hockey game tonight. It’s good to see the guys step up and it’s good to chip in for another win. The team’s playing great.