The Florida Panthers turned in yet another dominant performance, this time against the Detroit Red Wings at home despite missing several key pieces of their roster. Having clinched a spot in the playoffs, the Panthers have chosen to rest Sam Bennett for the remainder of the season and have lately played a much more subdued game while giving their heavy-hitters and superstars chances to recover. That, however, doesn’t mean the Cats have fully let their collective foot off the gas pedal.
First Period
The first period saw the Panthers go down early as Alex DeBrincat tallied his 36th goal of the season. Jesper Boqvist would have a solid chance with roughly six minutes remaining in the period, but wasn’t quite able to send it home past Red Wings’ netminder Cam Talbot. Sergei Bobrovsky made a huge breakaway save on Patrick Kane to close out the period with the Cats down 1-0, and the Panthers ended up outshooting the Red Wings in the first period 10-6.
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Second Period
The Cats came roaring out into the second period, notching up the score at 1-1 on the power play thanks to Evan Rodrigues’ netfront magic. Midway through the period, rookie standout Mackie Samoskevich put the Panthers ahead 2-1 with a beauty of a spin-o-rama wrist shot from the faceoff circle. Shortly after, Bobrovsky put on a goaltending clinic as he stopped four incredibly solid shots from Detroit’s offensive corps. Panthers legend Brad Marchand then blew the roof off of the Amerant Arena as he scored his first goal as a Florida Panther (22nd of the season) with roughly three minutes remaining in the period. The Cats continued to outshoot the Red Wings 22-17.
Third Period
After the Panthers’ three unanswered goals in the second period, things calmed down a bit for both sides. Things remained relatively back-and-forth for much of the first half of the final frame of the evening, with the exception of a chance here or there for either side. Tomas Nosek had a beauty of a chance on Talbot’s doorstop, but missed just wide with about 14 minutes left in the game. With roughly six minutes left in the game, Aleksander Barkov would further widen the Cats’ lead via a netfront deflection from a shot by Seth Jones that brought the scoreline to 4-1. Barkov’s goal was his 20th of the season, marking his 10th consecutive season with at least 20 goals. The Red Wings went on the power play in the waning minutes of the game, but ultimately fell victim to the Panthers with the scoreline remaining 4-1.
