In Detroit, the Florida Panthers’ Aaron Ekblad hit for a pair of power play goals on Friday night, his fist snapped a 1-1 tie in the middle frame, and his second gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead in the third period.
The Red Wings’ Robby Fabbri scored late in the third to make the last minutes tighter at 3-2, and the final.
“He’s really important for us on the power play;Â he scores goals because he gets into the slot so fast,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of Ekblad. “We need those pucks to go in, and he’s been great.”
Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves in the Panthers win.
“[Bobrovsky] stole the game,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “He was the First Star, Second Star and Third Star. He made some unbelievable saves on the breakaways and the shots from the edge of the crease. After that, you’re wondering how it isn’t 2-2.”
Florida improved to 18-18-4.
“If we get any execution on special teams, I wouldn’t say it is an easy win, but it is a winnable game,” Lalonde said. “We’ve been very good at even-strength in the last two games, but we haven’t gotten anything out of it.”
Detroit dropped to 16-14-7.
Jonatan Berggren scored with 64 seconds gone in the game for a 1-0 lead to Detroit.
The Panthers tied, 1-1, at 2:33 of the first on a marker from Gustav Forsling .
“We have so much potential, and we had some extra urgency tonight with a divisional game,” Florida;s Eric Staal said. “We’re chasing these guys and a lot of other teams, and this is a good first step toward playing meaningful games down the stretch.”
Ville Husso made 17 saves in the Detroit loss.
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