Shorthanded Panthers get another gutsy win, but add Anthony Duclair to growing injury list
The Florida Panthers were on their way to another one of those victories Joel Quenneville would classify among the most rewarding in a season when another frustrating break came their way.
The Panthers — already playing without Aleksander Barkov, Patric Hornqvist and Aaron Ekblad — were cruising to a 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings when Anthony Duclair burst to the net in the waning moments of the second period, tripped over the goaltender to draw a penalty and crashed into the boards behind the goal. The winger writhed on the ice while the crowd of 4,321 showered boos down upon Thomas Greiss, then cheered when Duclair finally rose to his feet and headed back to the locker room.
Florida pushed its winning streak up to three games Tuesday, but also pushed its list of injured contributors up to four with Duclair set to miss 7-10 days with a shoulder injury.
“He’s going to be gone for a little bit here,” coach Joel Quenneville said.
On Tuesday, the Panthers scratched Barkov with a lower-body injury during pregame warm-ups. On Thursday, Hornqvist went down with an undisclosed injury, leaving Florida without two of its top forward. The most serious injury struck Sunday when Ekblad fractured a bone in his left leg — he had successful surgery Monday and will miss 12 weeks — then the list grew to four Tuesday with Duclair’s injury in the second period.
After losing its first two games without Barkov on Tuesday and Thursday, Florida (23-9-4) answered with a three-game winning streak, including back-to-back three-goal victories.
“We’re on a three-game winning streak now after a three-game losing streak,” forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “It shows the resiliency of our team.”
The latest romp was never close. The Panthers scored three goals in the first 12:25, chasing Red Wings goaltender Calvin Pickard from the game and sparking a lopsided win to open up a five-game homestand in Sunrise, despite being outshot for the third straight game.
All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau, who had just one goal in his previous 11 games before scoring twice Sunday against the Dallas Stars, scored just 17 seconds into the game, then Verhaeghe and Brett Connolly scored just 58 seconds apart to knock Pickard out of the game with 7:35 left in the first period.
Verhaeghe, who notched his second career hat trick Saturday in Dallas, also scored in the second period and now has 16 goals to lead the Panthers in his first season in Florida. Connolly’s goal was the 100th of his career, but only his second of the season.
Huberdeau and Sergei Bobrovsky — with 35 saves on 36 shots — still paced the shorthanded Panthers, but Florida picked up a third straight win with the help of the newfound depth it has cultivated in this breakthrough season.
“We’re missing a few guys — a few key guys — but I think it’s also opened up the opportunity for other guys to play bigger roles, play bigger minutes and earn their spot in the lineup,” Bobrovsky said. “It’s also some adversity for us to overcome, to get together and be strong, and I thought guys did a great job tonight again.”
After Huberdeau scored in the first minute, the rest of the explosive first period was handled by some of the Panthers’ most important new additions and unlikely contributors. Verhaeghe scored off an assist from Duclair — a connection by two linemates in their first season with Florida — and Connolly scored his when he deflected in a slap shot by defenseman Gustav Forsling, who landed with the Panthers just four days before the 2020-21 NHL season began in January.
Forsling’s increased workload was Florida’s newest lineup change Tuesday. With Ekblad out, Forsling moved up to join defenseman MacKenzie Weegar on the top defensive pairing.
The Panthers, though, started with defensemen Riley Stillman and Anton Stralman, whom Florida actually placed on waivers Friday, but kept on its taxi squad when he went unclaimed. He was on the ice for Huberdeau’s goal and Verhaeghe’s first, which came when the Panthers turned defense into offense.
Duclair jumped on a loose puck and used his speed to beat Detroit (12-21-4) down the ice. He stopped on a dime just before he hit the red line, spun his body back toward the center of the ice and flipped a backhanded pass through three defenders to Verhaeghe, who put Florida ahead 2-0 with 8:33 left in the first period.
Less than a minute later, Forsling and Connolly stretched the lead to 3-0. Forsling was elevated to the top line in part because of his shooting ability — his 2.1 shots on goal per game are now most among active Panthers defensemen — and he ripped one toward the net with Connolly screening. The winger rose his stick and redirected the puck past the goalie to stretch the lead, and send Pickard back to the bench.
Forsling was also on the ice for Verhaeghe’s goal in the second period, which came after a wraparound shot bounced over Greiss and across the goal line to push Florida’s lead back up to 4-1 less than five minutes after the Red Wings cut into it.
When the night ended, the Panthers were back in a tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Central Division, albeit with an another injury hurdle to manage.
So far, Florida has proved it can handle it.
“We have a lot of good players and Q has a lot of decisions every night with different guys,” Connolly said. “It’s a good problem to have.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 9:31 PM.
