In Detroit, the Florida Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe scored in the first period to take a 2-0 lead over the Red Wings on Monday night.
Detroit spent the rest of the rest of the contest chasing the Panthers in a 5-2 loss.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves in the Panthers.
The Panthers win, combined with the loss by the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Ottawa Senators on Monday pushed the Panthers into the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, displacing the Penguins.
“Getting into a playoff spot was our goal, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Verhaeghe said. “We’ve got the right guys in this room, a lot of good leadership and a lot of great players.”
Detroit got one back in the first period on a strike by Pius Suter for a 2-1 deficit headed to the middle frame.
“Turnovers really cost us in the first period,” Detroit’s Andrew Copp said. “We have to find a way to play a little more inspired than we did tonight.”
Detroit dropped to 30-30-9, on their ninth loss in 11 games.
“Our margin of error is very thin,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “That’s frustrating right now, but we have to keep playing.”
Gustav Forsling scored for Florida in the second stanza to give them a 3-1 lead.
“The 3-1 goal was certainly important, and Staal scoring was critically important,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “I thought it was a pretty good game and a nice road win.”
In the third, Dylan Larkin scored on a delayed penalty call to trim the deficit to 3-2.
Eric Staal scored off an odd man rush to push the lead back to two for the Panthers at 4-2.
Verhaeghe hen hit for a double off the power play for the 5-2 final with 83 seconds left on the regulation clock.
Aleksander Barkov had an assist in the Panthers win to become the leading point scorer in franchise history.
“This is a great feeling, and I’m sure I’ll realize that even more as time goes by,” said Barkov, the Panthers captain, whose teammates gave him the silent treatment after the game before cheering for him. “I didn’t even realize what was happening because I wasn’t expecting anything. When they all started cheering, that’s a moment I’ll remember the rest of my life.”
He reached 614 points in his career in Florida.
“He might be the most humble man I’ve ever met, and he’s certainly the most humble elite player I’ve ever met,” Maurice said.
Ville Husso made 20 saves in the Red Wings loss.
You must be logged in to post a comment.