In Sunrise, the Panthers put up a four spot in the middle frame on Thursday, and downed the Detroit Red Wings, 5-1.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves in the Panthers win.
Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two points in the win.
“I thought this was such a complete effort,” Tkachuk said. “The guys really stepped up.”
Florida improved to 13-10-4.
“We’ve played three of the last four games in almost an identical manner,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “We were stingy on defense, and we’ve gotten some quick counter-attack chances. I thought we really built something good on the road trip, even with a tough game in Winnipeg (5-2 loss on Tuesday).”
Jonatan Berggren was the lone striker for the Red Wings.
“It wasn’t a bad start, but we just didn’t have any grit in the offensive zone,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. “We couldn’t sustain any pressure and we weren’t winning battles to keep the puck alive.”
Detroit dropped to 13-8-5.
Florida took a 1-0 lead on a marker from Chris Tierney, was recalled from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League, in the first period.
“I feel good,” he said. “I’ve been playing a lot in the AHL, so I’ve got some confidence built up, but it was nice to contribute on the score sheet.”
In 58 seconds in the middle frame, Eetu Luostarinen and Josh Mahura kicked the score up to 3-0 for Florida.
Detroit hit off the power on the Berggren strike to make it 3-1.
Matt Kiersted and Tkachuk scored 45 seconds apart starting in the 16th minute of the second, for the 5-1 final.
”It was so nice to be able to come back home and play that way in front of our fans,” Tkachuk said. ”It was such a complete effort as guys really stepped up. I’m not going to lie; it is not easy going from the road to coming back for this one. It was very important for us to take care of this home ice.”
Alex Nedeljkovic made 36 saves the Wings loss.
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