Red Wings-Panthers Game 1 quick take: Wings blow it in OT thanks to self-inflicted mistakes, rematch vs. Florida on Sunday

The Detroit Red Wings hoped to snap an 0-4-and-1 streak opposite a difficult opponent on Saturday night, hosting the Florida Panthers for 2 weekend games.

Florida possessed a 6-game winning streak in Detroit heading into Saturday night’s affair…

And they extended it to 7 games, with Aleksi Heponiemi breaking a 2-2 tie in overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 OT win that was frustrating, deflating, exhausting and cost the Wings Tyler Bertuzzi in the 3rd period due to an upper-body injury.

Now Detroit is 0-4-and-2 over its past six games, its power play is inept, its penalty-kill was 1-for-3 on Saturday, and the opportunistic Panthers appeared to earn every damn break in the book, both rule-wise (see: Glendening smeared by Weegar) and puck-wise (see: Brome’s “Forsberg” move toed away by Bobrovsky).

Thankfully, the teams get to rematch tomorrow at 5 PM EST, and perhaps (perhaps!) the Wings will have learned from some of their self-inflicted mistakes–those were the ones that cost Detroit the game–enough to win the second of 6 games to take place between these teams over the next three weeks.

MLive’s Ansar Khan reported that the Red Wings made some minor shake-ups to their lines during warm-ups:

#RedWings lines/D pairs vs. Panthers:
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Ryan
Hirose-Namestnikov-Mantha
Nielsen-Filppula-Rasmussen
Brome-Glendening-Helm
Nemeth-Hronek
DeKeyser-Djoos
Staal-Stecher
Greiss starting
Pickard backup (Bernier upper body injury) pic.twitter.com/TrNIsXYquZ— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 30, 2021

The Red Wings’ official Twitter account was paying attention to the warm-ups, too…

Projected.#FLAvsDET x #LGRW pic.twitter.com/BF9VqZ1ITu— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 30, 2021

That meant one change for Detroit, in terms of scratches…

Greiss vs. Bobrovsky in net tonight….#RedWings scratch Givani Smith in favor of Frans NIelsen; Hirose moves to 2nd line with Mantha/Namestnikov; Ryan-Larkin-Bertuzzi top line— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) January 31, 2021

Meanwhile, the Panthers slightly tweaked their lineups as well:

The lineup changes reflected in the above Tweet are as follows:

As for that Panthers winning streak…

Panthers have won 6 in a row vs. #RedWings dating back to Oct. 20, 2018, a 4-3 OT win for Wings in Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky is 15-5-1 career vs. Wings (1.96 GAA, .936 save pct, 3 SO). Greiss is 5-2-1 career vs. Panthers (2.10 GAA, .930 save pct).— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 30, 2021

Dylan Larkin gave a pre-game interview to Fox Sports Detroit as well:

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin joins John Keating to look back at his All-Star appearance five years ago and look forward to playing the Panthers this weekend. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/nQE61lqBaH— FOX Sports Detroit (@FOXSportsDet) January 30, 2021

The Red Wings and Panthers filed their starting lineups at 6:57 PM EST:

Beware the man in the background?

Greiss in goal. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/gn7LZreXbG— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 30, 2021

Both teams “announced their starters” via Twitter:

STRONG START! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/It3Xc6HUjh— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

  • The puck hit the ice for the 1st period at 7:08 PM EST.

Dylan Larkin tied the puck up, but the Panthers chipped and chased the contested faceoff, and Detroit repelled the Panthers to center ice and ultimately their own zone. Florida iced the puck with 25 seconds gone in the 1st.

The second line of Hirose, Namestnikov and Mantha hit the ice for the deep zone faceoff, and Florida won the draw, was stopped at the Wings’ line, and chipped and changed in typical, conservative Joel Quenneville style.

Florida arguably got the first scoring chance, too, some 1:30 into the game as a wide shot banged wide of the net and rebounded out front of Thomas Greiss, with Patrik Nemeth preventing a Panthers forward from getting to the rebound…

  • And Mathias Brome took a holding penalty at 2:00.

Glendening, Bertuzzi, Hronek and Nemeth battled the Panthers’ top PP unit and struggled, affording Florida a ridiculously easy entry…

  • And Aleskandr Barkov was able to chip a puck off Danny DeKeyser’s stick and into the net over Thomas Griess at 3:06 of the 1st period.

The goal was credited to Patrik Hornqvist, however…

  • Florida ultimately sorted things out and gave the goal to the right guy. 1-0 Florida.
  • At 5:19, Carter Verhaege was called for holding a stick, and Detroit headed to the power play for the first time.

The Wings did open the PP with a faceoff win, and Filip Hronek generated a scoring chance on Bobrovsky, but he was repelled, and Djoos, Ryan, Hirose, Rasmussen and Hronek all worked together…

Struggling to get into the Panthers’ zone…

And so they changed for a 2nd unit of Namestnikov, Filppula, Bertuzzi, and Brome with DeKeyser.

No Larkin, no Mantha on either PP unit.

Thomas Greiss ended up making the biggest save of the power play, which tells you how effective the Red Wings have been lately.

At 7:57, the Panthers led in shots 4-3.

Bertuzzi, Larkin and Ryan took the shift after the first TV timeout, and, again, Thomas Greiss was challenged far more than Sergei Bobrovsky was.

On the next shift, Danny DeKeyser and Vladislav Namestnikov tried to drop pass the puck to each other three times, in the defensive zone, and Florida nearly scored as a result.

As Ken Daniels noted, the Panthers were checking the hell out of the Red Wings, giving Detroit no time and space, and the tentative Red Wings were struggling mightily.

Hronek, who went to the bench seemingly in pain from blocking a shot, spent the 10-minute mark sitting on the bench with a sinus tampon in his nose due to having absorbed a high stick from Vladislav Namestnikov on accident.

The Panthers were also lobbying the refs for calls whenever the Red Wings touched them, which bore watching as much as their stifling checking.

Detroit just looked off during the 1st period, and the Wings could not convert, even when Marc Staal was presented with a turnover off the ladies’ tees in the slot 🙁

The Mantha line did generate some sustained zone time and offensive zone pressure during its shift just short of 12 minutes into the 1st period, but that was an isolated moment of conventional offensive pressure.

Djoos, Brome, Helm and Glendening got a good shift going as well, with DeKeyser backing up when the Panthers inevitably cleared the puck.

Nemeth JUST missed setting up Tyler Bertuzzi for a fine chance in the slot, and Larkin had a doggedly determined shift some 14:30 into the 1st…

  • Thankfully, the Red Wings were able to steal a Panthers pass at center ice, Namestnikov, Hirose and Mantha cycled the puck and pushed it toward the net, where Namestnikov missed tipping in a Hirose pass, but Mantha was bringing up the rear and he ripped a slot shot through Sergei Bobrovsky to open the scoring.

Anthony Mantha ?? #LGRW pic.twitter.com/6jV955W8J5— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

Anthony Mantha gets the first-period equalizer for the Red Wings after a nice backchecking effort. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/u6sC43HVd8— FOX Sports Detroit (@FOXSportsDet) January 31, 2021

ANTHONY MANTHA BURIES IT

TIE GAME! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/5SMfrIMvK5— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

  • Detroit scored the 1-0 goal at 15:02. Hirose and Namestnikov got assists on Mantha’s first of the season.

Detroit continued to play decently after taking the 1-0 lead, with Nielsen and Filppula threatening on the next shift, Hronek finding Helm at the goal mouth, with Helm only to be checked heavily…

  • Troy Stecher kept the puck in at the blueline, the puck bounced off Staal to Larkin, he fed Bertuzzi in front, and Bertuzzi tucked the rebound in past Bobrovsky to make it 2-1 Detroit.

Bert doing Bert things. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/9AUjA9dU5t— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

Tyler Bertuzzi gives the Red Wings a 2-1 lead at 16:59 of the first period. Troy Stecher and Marc Staal with the assists. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/RKJQeN8TYE— FOX Sports Detroit (@FOXSportsDet) January 31, 2021

AND ONE FROM BERT!!

IT’S 2-1, #REDWINGS! pic.twitter.com/uDIpvlAlbC— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

  • Detroit scored the 2-1 goal at 16:59. It was initially credited to Bertuzzi from Stecher and Staal.
  • Regrettably, Marc Staal took a dumb high-sticking penalty with only 37.3 seconds remaining in the 1st period, and Florida headed to the power play late in the 1st period.
  • Glendening, Nielsen, Hronek and Nemeth worked the first unit and surrendered a shot before clearing the puck, Florida rebounded, Barkov found Hornqvist, and Hornqvist’s rebound was chipped to Keith Yandle, who evaded Patrik Nemeth and chipped a puck through Greiss with 0.4 seconds remaining in the 1st period. Hronek’s fly-by of the puck did not help.
  • Ultimately, Yandle made it 2-2 at 19:59 of the 1st.

The first period ended tied 2-2.

Goals from Anthony Mantha & Tyler Bertuzzi have us tied at 2 after the first.#FLAvsDET x #LGRW pic.twitter.com/S0srE4r3t1— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

Detroit led the Panthers in shots 12-11, but Florida was 2-for-2 in 1:44 of PP time.

By the way, in the statistical department, we have a milestone this game:

Let’s have a solid 2nd. ?@BetMGM is live! Sign up now for a special offer » https://t.co/2BWQTBeS5D pic.twitter.com/3JeJy886i6— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

  • So the first period and first intermission wound down, and the 2nd period began at 8:04 PM.

Detroit and Florida were both a “little leaky” in the 1st period, so they came out checking hard through center ice, and GREISS MADE A HUGE STOP ON BARKOV OFF A PASS FROM VERHAEGE ON A 2-on-1 DOWN LOW.

  • A minute later, at 1:36, Valtteri Filppula got tagged for tripping Owen Tippett, and Florida headed to the power play.

Barkov walked in and Greiss made a big stop 29 seconds into the PP…

Florida started cycling on a long shift by Glendening, Bertuzzi, Hronek and Nemeth, but Bertuzzi made an astute poke check to stifle that one, and Nielsen hopped over the boards to help Bertuzzi clear a puck in front of Greiss…And Nielsen of all people had a very competent PK shift as the Wings killed the penalty.

Soon after, Barkov, Duclair and Huberdeau nearly scored on Greiss, but Hronek dove back to help assuage a bad mistake by Staal on defense.

The first TV timeout of the 2nd hit with 13:48 remaining in the 2nd/ at 6:12. FLORIDA led in shots 6-1.

  • Detroit was afforded a power play when Valtteri Filppula was tripped by Keith Yandle at 6:36…

Hirose, Rasmussen and Ryan started the PP with Djoos and Hronek. They struggled to enter the zone with the puck, Hronek was interfered with sans call, Hronek whiffed on a one-timer, and they changed…

Bertuzzi, Namestnikov and Filppula took to the ice for the 2nd shift, with DeKeyser and Brome, so Blashill continued the “No Larkin or Mantha on the PP” spiel…

And nothing happened on the second shift.

The halfway point of the game passed with Detroit heading to the power play on a delayed call…

  • And at 10:33, Keith Yandle was called for tripping Dylan Larkin, so the Red Wings headed to their 3rd PP down 6-2 in shots over the course of the 2nd period, and down 17-14 in shots overall.

Hirose, Rasmussen, Ryan, Djoos and Hronek worked the 1st unit…And Filip Hronek got a good one-timer off, but Michael Rasmussen afforded Bobrovsky a line of sight on the puck. So it was stopped.

Larkin, Mantha, Filppula, Djoos and Bertuzzi worked the 2nd unit…Larkin was able to generate a pair of shots on Bobrovsky, but that was it for the power play.

Detroit 0-for-3 with 3 shots on their last PP. Florida 2-for-3.

Detroit at least ground the puck out down low quite well, Detroit looked competent in the neutral zone, and Detroit’s turnovers in their own zone were not deadly, so progress was being made some 16 minutes into the 2nd period.

A line of–get this–Filppula centering Helm and Mantha–had a really good shift late in the 2nd, too, but the Wings were doing two bad things:

  1. They were letting Sergei Bobrovsky see the puck on every shot;
  2. They were struggling to not make turnovers under pressure in their own zone.

Greiss did a great job of battling off a high, hard shot by Patrik Hornqvist after he walked in behind Nemeth and Hronek with 2:31 remaining in the 2nd, and that was a “mark that one down in your notebook” save.

Anthony Duclair also walked around Marc Staal, but fired a shot wide of the net with about 1:20 remaining in the 2nd.

  • Detroit was given a power play with 29.7 remaining in the 2nd as Huberdeau sat for holding, but Detroit lost the faceoff and struggled to get a shot on net, ending the 2nd period.

Detroit was ultimately out-shot 10-9 in the 2nd and the shots were tied 21-21 over the course of 2 periods. Here are the individual stats after 2:

Still even after two. #FLAvsDET pic.twitter.com/Kd2qCT1Fne— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) January 31, 2021

Still even after 40.#FLAvsDET x #LGRW pic.twitter.com/5O7sTfK3ZG— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

FSD had the scoring chances at 9-8 Florida after 2 periods.

Stats from the second ⬇️ #FLAvsDET pic.twitter.com/w7CU9bctcf— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) January 31, 2021

MacKenzie Weegar details the PK’s impact tonight after two periods of play.

2 #FLAvsDET 2 #FlaPanthers #OneTerritory #NHL

Watch @FlaPanthers ?:
?: FOX Sports Florida ?:https://t.co/HVAf8JBse5 pic.twitter.com/tL2BTW1Z23— FOX Sports Panthers (@FOXPanthers) January 31, 2021

We’re still even at two. The @FlaPanthers are looking to extend their point streak to 5 games!

#FLAvsDET #FlaPanthers #OneTerritory #NHL pic.twitter.com/mFLsF6ZEpO— FOX Sports Panthers (@FOXPanthers) January 31, 2021

Mrs. Greiss also said, “Hello!”

Let’s go @DetroitRedWings #lgrw ? pic.twitter.com/MNEZFFhdDP— Brittney Greiss (@BrittneyGreiss1) January 31, 2021

Let’s go @DetroitRedWings ? #lgrw #GreisserGreisserGreisser pic.twitter.com/7LZjm8LPu6— Brittney Greiss (@BrittneyGreiss1) January 31, 2021

Finally, the Wings posted their stats…

Big 3rd coming up! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/FPZWVGhgaj— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

  • And the 3rd period began with the Red Wings on the power play for approximately 1:30 at 8:59 PM EST.

Larkin, Mantha, Ryan, Djoos and Hirose began the PP and that stupid drop pass play fumbled things, but Djoos got a PERFECT slot opportunity only to miss the net…

Mantha fired a shot wide, Hirose fired passes to Djoos, Mantha fired a shot in on Bobrovsky, and the repetition did not help.

Detroit changed lines with 25 left in the PP, Filppula, Rasmussen, Hronek, DeKeyser and Namestnikov worked together…

And Detroit did little on its power play.

Afterward, some 2 minutes into the game, Stecher got accidentally high-sticked by Lusotarinen, but there was no call on the Finnish rookie because the refs did not see it.

Bobby Ryan looked frustrated and without confidence.

Namestnikov was very, very quiet.

Greiss made a BIG STOP on Tippett some 4:20 into the 3rd…

Five minutes into the 3rd period, Hronek fired a heavy shot in for a rebound, but Radko Gudas cleared the puck easily…

Greiss made some CRAZY stops on Ekblad, Barkov and Duclair some 6:10 into the 3rd…

Taro Hirose delivered a reverse hit on Sasha Barkov…

A BIG Panthers player-on-player collision resulted on perhaps Mathias Brome’s best chance to score a goal thus far…But his backhand was deftly stopped by Sergei Bobrovsky.

Shittily, the Wings announced this with 12:27 remaining in the 3rd period:

Update: Tyler Bertuzzi (upper-body) will not return tonight.— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

Ken and Mickey didn’t notice the notice for a couple of minutes, and Helm was the player who got promoted to the Ryan-Larkin line.

Ryan did a nice job of tipping the puck, erm, well…

Ryan with a steal, Ryan with a drop pass, Larkin with a scoring chance in the slot that was tipped by Gudas’ skate wide, rebound Ryan dumped by Bobrovsky, puck held by Borovsky.— George Malik (@georgemalik) January 31, 2021

Mantha worked with Hirose Namestnikov on the 2nd line…AND MANTHA BLEW AN ASTONISHING, REMARKABLE, ELEGANT ATTEMPT OFF A PASS BY TARO HIROSE THAT SLID MANTHA IN ALL ALONE.

Sigh.

And Greiss stops a puck that goes off his shoulder and then off the junction of the crossbar and goalpost…YIKES!

With 8:55 remaining in the 3rd period, the Wings and Panthers were playing even hockey–slightly boring hockey–and trading chances.

Detroit and Florida were tied 2-2 in shots in the 3rd period with 7:29 remaining…

And Patrik Nemeth delivered a LOVELY hip check to Carter Verhaege which the refs let go because it was bloody clean.

BIG HIT! #Kronwalled pic.twitter.com/nQiEq7JK5Q— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

When we returned from the TV timeout…

Bobby Ryan deked the snot out of Acciari, but Ekblad came back to slash the puck away (cleanly)…

The turnover-prone Djoos was bailed out by DeKeyser and Mantha off a bad turnover in the Wings’ zone…

Time ticked down surprisingly quickly, and with 4 minutes remaining, sadly, Luke Glendening got SMEARED into the boards FACE FIRST by MacKenzie Weegar, and while Weegar held up on the play…

Florida’s MacKenzie Weegar hit Luke Glendening behind the Panthers net and Glendening had to head to the room for some treatment. Ouch. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/5Zdf9adAof— FOX Sports Detroit (@FOXSportsDet) January 31, 2021

Glendening went off with a towel to a bleeding face.

Luke Glendening heads down the tunnel after being cut in the face. Wings already without Tyler Bertuzzi (upper body). 3:48 to play, 2-2 with Panthers.— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) January 31, 2021

Bobby Ryan made an amazing play to Mathias Brome, who tried to Forsberg Bobrovsky, and Bobrovsky made the toe stop WOW.

Greiss made a great save on Stralman with just over 2 minutes remaining…

Glendening returned to the bench for the final 1:14 of regulation…And he hopped out on the ice for the defensive zone faceoff with 47.3 left in the 3rd, lost the draw, and Florida cycled, but Stecher and Larkin cleared the puck to center ice…

Barkov and Verhaege were stopped again by Stecher…Stecher blocked a shot, swept it to Ryan, he flipped a puck off the scoreboard (or nearly so)…

And we headed to overtime. 3 on 3 overtime as the Red Wings and Panthers were tied 2-2.

EXTRA HOCKEY‼️@Xfinity | #LGRW pic.twitter.com/k0LFVM255Y— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

  • OVERTIME BEGAN AT 9:34 PM WITH LARKIN, RYAN AND HRONEK VS. VERHAEGE, BARKOV AND EKBLAD…

Larkin was high-sticked off the draw…He skated in on a 2-on-1 with Ryan and shanked the puck wide…

Barkov circled, re-set, found Ekblad down low, Ekblad skatted out to center to change, Ryan was out long, and off a wide shot, Larkin got slashed by Ekblad, held by Ekblad…

Stecher recoiled, Larkin recoiled, Mantha kick faked, circled the goal, Namestnikov picked the puck up at the Panthers’ blueline…Mantha faked, found STecher, he waited, flipped a puck to Mantha…

Namestnikov and Mantha played catch and got a shot off with 3:13 left in OT, the Wings’ first shot of overtime.

BROME made a great stop and steal on Weegar, but Weegar was ALLOWED TO HOLD UP Brome 1-on-1…

Florida’s Duclair roared in but lost the puck vs. Larkin…

Djoos, Brome and Larkin tried to thread the needle, Duclair STOLE THE PUCK SKATED IN AND FED THE PUCK INTO GREISS…

  • Sadly, Duclair grabbed the puck off a bad Larkin turnover, Duclair skated down low, fed the puck through Hronek to Heponiemi, and Greiss had no chance to stop the mid-air crease pass.

FINAL: Panthers 3, Red Wings 2, OT; Detroit’s winless skid reaches five pic.twitter.com/0lHnBlizEO— Detroit News Sports (@detnews_sports) January 31, 2021

  • Florida won 3-2 in overtime, scoring at 2:45 of OT.

Rematch tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/mXQqazx0zF— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

#FLAvsDET numbers. pic.twitter.com/HFDp43p7PV— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 31, 2021

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

Published by

George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!