Red Wings-Panthers wrap-up: Wings show progress in OT loss

The Detroit Red Wings will tangle with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/CBC/97.1 FM) after taking a bit of a punch to the gut in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Friday night.

The Red Wings rallied valiantly from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime, but were victimized by standing still on their blueline in OT–affording a home-run pass from Jonathan Huberdeau to Aleksander Barkov, who made no mistake:

That being said, the Red Wings’ ability to battle through this sequence of Panthers shots was remarkable:

For the Panthers, the night’s result was both earned and appropriate, given that interim coach Andrew Brunette had to step in to relieve Joel Quenneville, as Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards noted:

It has been quite a few days — a “whirlwind” new interim coach Andrew Brunette described it — yet the Panthers keep on doing what they have been doing of late. And that is winning.
Sasha Barkov was the hero of the night, scoring to make it 2-0 and then ending it in overtime.
”It was very emotional for our whole group,’’ said Brunette, who won in his NHL head coaching debut. “I was really proud in the way they rallied under some really difficult circumstances the past few days. Really proud of them. Then a great play from Barky; what a goal. Big win. … To be honest, I was more happy for them. It was a tough, tough stretch.”
The Panthers have not only won their first eight games of the new season, but they have won their past 14 regular season games dating back to a 4-1 loss in Nashville back on April 26.
Florida went into last year’s opening-round playoff series riding a six-game winning streak.
This version of the Panthers are now just the seventh team in NHL history to start off 8-0. The all-time record for an unbeaten start to a season is 10-0. Florida tries for No. 9 Saturday in Boston.

FloridaPanthers.com’s Jameson Olive also told the game’s narrative in his recap….

Lighting the lamp for the second straight game, Eetu Luostarinen helped the Panthers score first for the sixth time this season when, after winning a key draw in the offensive zone, he redirected a shot from Markus Nutivaara through Alex Nedeljkovic to make it 1-0 at 8:43 of the first period.
Turning defense into offense as he often does, Barkov doubled the lead later in the period on a play that started with a steal in the neutral zone. Setting up Anthony Duclair for a shot after his pickoff, Barkov then poked a rebound out from under Nedeljkovic and in to make it 2-0 at 18:49.
With the lone assist on the goal, Duclair recorded the 200th point of his NHL career.
“When the puck drops, all the focus is on that hockey game and focusing on winning and playing our best hockey,” Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said. “I thought we stepped up to the challenge and came out with a strong start. Then it just carried on the whole game.”
Striking back in the second period, the Red Wings got on the board when a shot from Troy Stecher ricocheted off Sam Ganger’s leg and past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 2-1 at 2:15.
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With time winding down in the third period, the Red Wings, who brought the building to life after a block-filled defensive shift only a few minutes before, tied the game when Pius Suter tipped a shot from Mortiz Seider just under Bobrovsky’s pads to make it 2-2 with 2:41 left in regulation.
In overtime, it was a classic connection that stole the show. Showing off his elite playmaking ability, Huberdeau sauced the puck through a pair of defenders right onto to Barkov’s stick in the slot. With no one to beat but Nedeljkovic, the Panthers captain then roofed a backhand shot into the twine at 3:29 of the extra frame to lock down the 3-2 win.
“It’s definitely a big win for us,” said Bobrovsky, who made 28 saves. “Every game is a big game, and every win brings the happy feeling and great emotions into the locker room.”

The Panthers did give the Red Wings due credit for battling back, as the AP’s Steve Kornacki noted…

Florida defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said: “That’s very special. This was a big one for us tonight. It’s been a tough 24 hours for us, and the coaching staff really stepped up. For 60 minutes, Detroit came at us really hard, and they made it tough. We really had to work.”
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Detroit was sparked by a flurry of blocked shots and saves by goalie Alex Nedeljkovic with about six minutes remaining in the third period.
“The crowd was awesome,” Nedeljkovic said. “The guys were sacrificing bodies. There were three blocks. The crowd feeds off it, and we feed off the crowd.”
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said: “It’s a little bit telling of our team — the sacrifice you see on that shift. As you could tell from the crowd, that was pretty awesome. Ultimately, we want to be a team that sacrifices more than the other.”
Blashill credited the entire coaching staff for that mentality, but added, “Starting at the top with (captain) Dylan Larkin. He wants to win.”
Luostarinen and Barkov gave Florida a 2-0 lead in the first period. Luostarinen redirected a shot through goalie Alex Nedeljkovic’s legs at 8:43, and Barkov banged the puck under Nedeljkovic’s right pad with 1:11 to go. Gagner pulled Detroit within one on a redirection at 2:15 of the second period. The Red Wings dropped to 4-3-1.
“They are a very tough team to play, and you see the talent they have coming through their system,” Brunette said. “If they continue in this vein, they are going to be a problem for us.”

For the Red Wings, the process was great, even if the result was lacking, as they told NHL.com’s Dave Hogg:

Sam Gagner and Pius Suter scored, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves for Detroit (4-2-2), which came back from 2-0 down to force overtime for the second straight game.
“That certainly builds our confidence, but I’m disappointed we didn’t get two points tonight,” Blashill said. “We got 2-0 and started playing better hockey.”
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Gagner made it 2-1 at 3:13 of the second period, deflecting in Troy Stecher‘s shot for his second goal of the season.
The Red Wings blocked 23 shots, including six in a 38-second stretch late in the third period.
“That was awesome,” Nedeljkovic said. “The guys were sacrificing their bodies, and the crowd was really getting into it. The fans fed off it and we fed off the fans.”
Moments later, Suter tied the game with 2:41 left in regulation, scoring his first goal with the Red Wings.

Nedeljkovic was blunt while describing the game to the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

“That’s a good team over there, and we were good from start to finish and controlled the play pretty well,” Nedeljkovic said. “We stuck with it and got the early goal in the second period and guys were sacrificing their bodies in the third.
“We believe in ourselves and we know we can go out and win any night and tonight kind of shows it. We’re not going to roll over and it doesn’t matter what the score is, we’re going to play hard and play a full 60 (minutes) and give ourselves as good a chances as any. It sucks to lose like that after battling so hard.”
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“Similar to the other night, we started playing better hockey and you have to get big saves at big moments which we got from Ned like we got from (Thomas) Greiss,” Blashill said. “It got us into position to win a hockey games. It’s certainly disappointing we didn’t (win) but it does build confidence when we need to we can come from behind. We don’t want to be in those spots lots, but we can do it.”

Regrettably, the Wings’ special teams failed them again:

The Wings were scoreless on four power plays, a second consecutive game without a power play goal, and are 1-for-14 in the last three games.
“It wasn’t good enough,” said Blashill of the power play. “We’re going to go back to the drawing board and simplify some things and try to be more effective.”

Coach Blashill continued while speaking with DetroitRedWings.com’s Brett McWethy:

But Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill wasn’t pointing to a moral victory when immediately reacting to the result.
“I’m disappointed that we didn’t get two [points]. We were in a spot, obviously, where we could have got two,” Blashill said. “I thought in the second, we started playing better hockey. They’ve got a great stretch game. They move up the ice great, so if you give them time and space, they’ve got excellent offensive attack.
“I thought as the game went on, we had better pressure, their stretch game wasn’t as effective, and I wouldn’t say by any stretch the game turned, it just went back and forth. I thought we had some good penalty kills, two good penalty kills, but we want to find a way to get two [points].”

Among Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen’s 5 Takeaways…

Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves in a losing effort, and made some big saves when needed most. In a small sample size, the Red Wings’ goaltending looks like he has growing confidence. His save percentage has been .900 and above in his last four outings.
“I think the last two games he’s been in a situation where he had to make a whole bunch of big saves at critical moments” Blashill said. “And he’s done that. I think both (goalies) should have lots of confidence with where their game is at.”
…
Moritz Seider is eight games into his NHL career and he is having undeniable impact on this team. He played 26 minutes and 31 seconds. That was four minutes more than everyone else on Detroit’s team.
Seider took the shot from the point that Suter tipped in for the tying goal with 2:41 left in regulation. He had four hits and two shots on goal. His seven assists place him second in the rookie scoring race behind Lucas Raymond (eight points).
“I have a lot of confidence in Moritz Seider, but he has to get better at some things too,” Blashill said.

And, from the Free Press’s Helene St. James’ recap comes this post-script:

The Wings left for Toronto after Friday’s game. Saturday has them taking on the Maple Leafs, who just won for the first time in five games earlier this week. The Leafs’ 3-4-1 start is far below expectations. The Wings are likely to face a familiar face, as goaltender Petr Mrazek is expected to get the start. He has missed six games with a groin injury. After Toronto, the Wings visit Montreal on Tuesday, Boston on Thursday, and then Buffalo on Nov. 6 before returning home to host Vegas on Nov. 7.

Multimedia:

Highlights: Sportsnet posted an 8:12 highlight clip: