Florida Panthers beat Red Wings, tie franchise record with 12th victory in a row
There’s nothing dirty about this dozen.
League-leader Jonathan Huberdeau produced two assists as the host Florida Panthers won their 12th game in a row, defeating the Detroit Red Wings, 5-2, on Thursday night.
The Panthers’ win streak ties the franchise record set in 2015-2016. Florida can break the record with a home win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Florida on Thursday also clinched the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
“We’ve been hot all year,” Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said when asked about the streak. “Locking up the division is a big accomplishment for us.”
Huberdeau tops the NHL with 83 assists, and he has 113 points, which is tied for the league lead with Connor McDavid of the idle Edmonton Oilers.
Florida, which has just five games left in the regular season, improved to 56-15-6. The 56 wins are a franchise record, and the same goes for the team’s 118 points.
The Panthers also have the best record in the NHL this season, two points ahead of the idle Colorado Avalanche.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves to earn the win. He is 38-6-3 this season. He has won 11 games in a row and has not lost since Feb. 26.
The Panthers showed their depth as five different players scored goals, including Aleksander Barkov, who netted his team-high 38th of the season. Florida’s other goals were from Noel Acciari, Mason Marchment, Weegar and Sam Reinhart.
“They’ve got a lot of firepower,” Detroit winger Sam Gagner said of the Panthers. “They are different stylistically than other teams we’ve played. They can seemingly create offense out of nothing.
“You feel like you’re playing well against them, but they create odd-man breaks, and their defensemen find guys open up the ice.”
To Gagner’s point, Detroit opened the scoring 4:08 into the first period. Gagner took a pass from Pius Suter and scored from the slot. Gagner’s wrist shot – which was more of a changeup in terms of velocity — floated past Bobrovsky’s glove.
The Panthers, though, closed the period with three straight goals.
Florida’s fourth line got the offense going, particularly 42-year-old Joe Thornton on the forecheck behind Detroit’s net. Defenseman Brandon Montour got the primary assist, feeding Acciari in the slot for the one-timer.
It was Montour’s 35th point of the season, tying his career high. Thornton, meanwhile, played his 30th game of the season, and he is already guaranteed a career low in that department.
After tying the score, the Panthers took the lead on Barkov’s power-play goal, and Marchment made it 3-1 just 46 seconds later.
On Barkov’s goal, he skated in from the blue line and took advantage of Detroit goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, who was screened.
Marchment scored unassisted, skating all the way from his own end. The finish wasn’t exactly clean, but Marchment was able to shove the puck in past Nedeljkovic.
“They’ve got the points lead in the league for a reason,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said of the Panthers. “I thought we played a good first period, and then it’s 3-1.”
Detroit cut its deficit to 3-2 with 6:15 gone in the second period. Tyler Bertuzzi scored an impressive goal, spinning around and fading away before firing a laser just under the bar, again beating Bobrovsky’s glove. Suter picked up his second primary assist.
The Panthers got that goal back on Weegar’s goal from the slot with 3:55 left in the second. Weegar took a pass from Marchment and elevated the puck quickly.
Florida’s power play clicked for the second time on Thursday as Reinhart scored with 16:10 left in the third period. Sam Bennett got the primary assist for his unselfish pass to Reinhart on a play in which both players were wide open.
That was all the Panthers needed to sweep their four-game season series against Detroit, including two victories this week.
“Everyone is having a lot of fun,” Acciari said. “We’re taking care of business, and it’s a good feeling to have going into the playoffs.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 10:47 PM.