The Detroit Red Wings earned a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers by busting their rear ends on individual and collective bases Thursday evening, out-working and out-smarting the star-studded Panthers team.
The out-smarting came largely in the form of 3 power play goals on 4 opportunities, as well as a 3-for-3 penalty-kill, and the busting of rear ends came from Cam Talbot, who stopped 41 shots (including 23 3rd-period shots), the Wings’ defense, who blocked 21 more attempts, and a significant “buy-in” to playing a bit of a rope-a-dope game as necessary from all 18 skaters on the ice…
As well as some opportunistic scoring, given that the Wings established 1-0 and 2-1 leads before breaking free thanks to a power play goal from Patrick Kane and an even-strength marker from Marco Kasper 1:57 later.
As Florida Hockey Now noted, the Red Wings knocked out quite the streak of bad luck against the Panthers in Sunrise…
On Thursday night, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Florida Panthers in regulation for the first time since 2021.
The Red Wings, who had gone 13 games without beating the Panthers in 60 minutes of play, got three power-play goals in a 5-2 win over the Panthers.
Florida had gone 12-0-1 against Detroit dating to the Covid/Central Division game of Feb. 20, 2021.
That night in Detroit, Florida got beat by the Wings 2-1 in front of an empty arena.
Thursday night, Detroit’s power play got after the Panthers and took three different leads before Marco Kasper chased Sergei Bobrovsky with 4:19 left in the second period.
Down 1-0, Florida tied the score on a goal from Anton Lundell; down 2-1, Evan Rodrigues tied it.
Florida went into the third down 4-2 and did not tie the score again.
Cam Talbot ended with 41 saves for the Wings.
5 Reasons Sports Network’s Alex Baumgartner picks up the story from there:
Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin scored the game winner, and led all skaters with two goals and three points on the night.
While losing on Thursday, the Panthers felt that the game came down to the special teams battle, as they controlled the majority of even strength play, outscoring the Red Wings 2-1 at 5-on-5 and generating 39 more even strength shot attempts, per NaturalStatTrick.
“We gotta stay out of the box,” Panther forward Evan Rodrigues said. “The past six, even games we’ve been taking a lot of penalties. That cost us tonight.”
“Even strength we played well, I think special teams won them the game today,” Rodrigues added.
After conceding four goals on 15 shots, Sergei Bobrovsky’s night game came to an end with 4:19 to play in the second period. Spencer Knight, who had 26 saves in Florida’s last game against the New Jersey Devils, played the rest of the way on Thursday night.
“Some nights the guys get unlucky in the net,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of Bobrovsky. “Sergei doesn’t get pulled very often and it wasn’t a ‘I gotta get him out of there for us to win the game.’
FloridaPanthers.com’s Jameson Olive told the story of the Panthers’ attempts at a comeback through coach Maurice’s words…
“We’ve got to kill the penalties that we take,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “We do everything we can to stay out of the penalty box, but we had a tough night on the kill.”
As well as coach Maurice’s logic for pulling Bobrovsky once the Wings pulled away…
“I would leave Sergei any day all day long that we have to come back and battle back, but some nights the guys get unlucky in the net,” Maurice said of pulling Bobrovsky. “When you get two deflections like that [on two of Detroit’s goals], he’s right and his position is solid.”
And the Panthers insisted that they were the better team at even strength…
“Take the positive out of it. At 5-on-5, we were pretty good. We got away from it a little bit in the second [period], but again a lot of special teams in the second so we didn’t get to roll lines over and tilt the ice a little bit.” – Evan Rodrigues
“We had some good looks. I feel like that’s kind of the story this year. We need to do a better job of getting to the net. We’re always almost there, and we need to get there. It’s a tough one. Special teams were huge.” – Carter Verhaeghe
As they also told the Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson…
Anton Lundell and Evan Rodrigues scored for the Panthers, with each goal tying the game before Detroit scored twice in a span of 1:56 late in the second period to take the lead for good. Larkin capped scoring with an empty-netter.
Cam Talbot stopped 41 of 43 shots he faced for Detroit, including going a perfect 23 for 23 in the third period.
At five-on-five, the Panthers had a 33-13 edge in shots on goal and 33-10 advantage over Detroit in scoring chances (including 12-7 in high-danger chances).
“At five-on-five, we were pretty good,” Rodrigues said. “I thought we played well. I thought we got away from it a little bit in the second [period], but [there were] a lot of special teams in the second, so we didn’t get to roll lines over and tilt the ice a little bit and then they capitalize on their chances. I think for the most part we played pretty well, but yeah, special team just killed us there.”
And the Red Wings were both blunt and a bit exultant while speaking with NHL.com’s George Richards:
Dylan Larkin had two goals and an assist for the Red Wings (21-19-4), who scored three power-play goals and are 8-1-0 in their past nine games.
“A tough building to play in and a veteran team over there. We needed a response after our last game,” Talbot said, referring to the 6-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks in Detroit on Tuesday. “We didn’t play up to the standard we have been setting, so I thought we came out and established our game again. It definitely helps when you bury three before the midway point in the game.”
Patrick Kane and Marco Kasper each had a goal and an assist, and Lucas Raymond had two assists to help the Red Wings get their first regulation win against the Panthers since Feb. 20, 2021.
“The win was terrific for our group after what we had against San Jose,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “The task was very difficult and it was very evident they are the champs for a reason. We needed outstanding goaltending, we needed special teams to get hot. We found a way to scrap our way to a win. It wasn’t pretty.”
It wasn’t pretty, but the captain suggested that the Wings got back to their standard of play…
“Today was business as usual. We focused on Florida and had a great start to the (four-game) trip,” said Larkin, the Detroit captain. “Tonight, we outworked the penalty-killers. They like to pressure, win battles on the boards. We battled back and it was good to see things go well on the first one.”
Coach McLellan agreed…
“This may sound strange, but this was the perfect opponent for us,” McLellan said. “They had our attention. We found a way to win.”
And he continued while speaking with the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:
The difference for the Wings was a power play that is currently playing at an elite level and the goaltending of Cam Talbot. The Wings scored three power-play goals and now have 17 power-play goals over the last 10 games and have scored a power-play goal in nine of the last 10 games.
Talbot made 40 saves to deservedly earn the victory.
“It’s very well connected, we use that word in the coaching world,” said Todd McLellan of the unit. “It’s confident, has a real sense of attack points and when it’s not going good, one of the most impressive things is how they go get pucks back. They don’t get lazy and drop their heads and give up. They keep hunting.
“The win was terrific for our group after what we had against San Jose. The task was very difficult. That was evident they are the champs for a reason. We needed outstanding goaltending and a special team to get hot and we found a way to scrap our way to a win. It wasn’t pretty, but it’s a good learning experience for our group and sometimes it’s easier to learn when you win than when you lose.”
Again, McLellan felt that the Panthers provided a superb opposition…
“This may sound strange, but this was a perfect opponent for us,” McLellan said. “They had our attention, and we found a way to win. But we’re going down the road here (Saturday in Tampa) and they’ve got a bunch of banners hanging and they’re playing well so it doesn’t get any easier.”
And the message from the Wings was simple: the standard has been set now, and it’s not what the Wings gave against San Jose on Tuesday night.
“Tough building to play in, a veteran team over there, and we needed a response after last game,” Talbot said. “We didn’t play up to our standard that we have been setting. We came out and established our game plan. But we needed a response. Give our guys a lot of credit. They came out and played a heck of a hockey game.”
…
“Things didn’t go well and we didn’t win and didn’t play to our standard,” Larkin said. “He (McLellan) let us know that and that was important and very productive. But we didn’t dwell on it. Today was business as usual and we kind of moved our focus to Florida and this trip and we had a great start to this trip.”
Larkin told Kulfan that the special teams battle was a simple one: it involved working harder than the opponent, on both the power play and on the PK:
“It’s been different things and tonight we just outworked the penalty killers,” said Larkin of the power play success. “Their penalty killers like to pressure and win battles on the boards, and we won pucks and got it back. Since Christmas break we’ve been practicing, and I give credit to our penalty killers for giving us game reps in practice and it’s just been good. Everyone has been clicking and tonight we just outworked the penalty kill and attacked after turnovers.”
Detroit Hockey Now’s Tim Robinson also took note of Larkin’s comments to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan…
“We didn’t have the start we wanted,” Larkin said. “But (the Panthers) always play well in this in this building, and and we weathered the storm. And then Talbot made big saves, and our power play got going and won us the game tonight.”
The Panthers were all over the Wings in their end early, but Jonatan Berggren put the Wings on top early and they never trailed. Patrick Kane gave the Wings the lead for good in the second period, and Marco Kasper gave them an insurance goal two minutes later. Thursday’s performance was light-years better than the effort put forth on Tuesday. It served as a wake-up call.
“We dropped some points there,” Larkin said. “We thought we we felt we were playing well enough to get (by).”
The Panthers, who have been slumping as of late, came out strong, but a chastened Red Wings squad held firm. The game was broadcast on ESPN, and Larkin was asked what’s different with the Wings since McLellan took over,
“This has been a lot of fun,” Larkin said, then talked about his first goal. “It’s been the real deal. It’s one of some games starts with Kaner. All I had to do is just keep my stick on the ice and close my eyes. It went right in.”
Coach McLellan also gave Marco Kasper credit for his 4-2 goal, as he told DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills…
Doubling the lead for the Red Wings and chasing Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky from the game, Marco Kasper raced into the offensive zone then scored a far-side goal to push it to 4-2 at 15:41 of the second period. The lone assist on Kasper’s fifth tally of the season went to Larkin.
“I saw him along the wood a lot tonight,” McLellan said about Kasper, who has three multi-point games in his last four appearances. “Making really good heavy, hard plays. That’s a tough team to play against. They’re always pinching. Then the offense is showing up when we need it, so he’s doing a real good job.”
There’s this…
This season, Larkin leads his hometown NHL club in goals (20) and power-play goals (11). He reached the 20-goal mark for the fourth straight campaign and sixth time in his career, becoming the first Red Wings skater to record four consecutive 20-goal seasons since Henrik Zetterberg hit the mark seven years in a row (2005-2012).
“It’s three [games] in four [days], with tough travel on the back-to-back,” Larkin said when asked how Detroit can carry over Thursday’s effort into its next game. “But we’ve set a standard for how we need to play. It’s just doing that night after night. Talbs was great tonight, so we’re going to have to find different ways to win on this trip. Tampa is always a good challenge, and a great atmosphere to play in. I hope we’re ready to go.”
And, among Mills’ bank of post-game quotes, are the following:
Talbot on how a hot power play makes it easier on him as a goalie
“That definitely helps when they bury three before the midway point of the game. That’s pretty unheard of. You have to give them a ton of credit. So hot lately, and they’ve been carrying our team. I thought the PK also stepped up really big tonight, so special teams was huge.”
Larkin if they dwelled on Tuesday’s loss
“We talked about it. I don’t think we dwelled on it. The Toronto game was the first time with Todd when things didn’t go well, when we didn’t win and play to our standard. He let us know that, and that was really important and very productive. But we didn’t dwell on [Tuesday’s game] and it was business as usual. Kind moved our focus to Florida and this trip, and we had a great start to this trip.”
Larkin on Detroit’s power play
“It’s been different things. Tonight, we just outworked the penalty killers. They like to pressure and win battles on the boards. We won pucks and got it back, and it was nice to see that things were going well on the first one for us. The next unit came out and did their job, and Bergy scored a beauty.”
“Berggy” did rip the corner, and the Red Wings won the day.
Multimedia:
Highlights: Sportsnet posted a 10:22 highlight clip:
Alex Wood posted an 11:39 annotated highlight clip:
Post-game: Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards posted post-game clips of Carter Verhaeghe…
Evan Rodrigues…
And Panthers coach Paul Maurice’s post-game comments:
The Red Wings posted an 8:48 clip of Cam Talbot, Dylan Larkin and coach Todd McLellan’s post-game remarks…
And the Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a 6:43 clip of Talbot, Larkin and coach McLellan’s comments:
Photos: The Free Press posted a 20-image gallery;
The Detroit News posted a 19-image gallery.
Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:
