SUNRISE — Sam Reinhart’s shootout winner gave the Florida Panthers their first win at home in three weeks as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.

 

The Panthers were 1-5-1 in their last seven games entering Saturday’s matinee, dropping four straight at home. 

 

Aleksander Barkov scored Florida’s only two goals in regulation, both coming in the third period. 

 

The first came 12:21 into the third with Florida trailing 1-0. He would give them a 2-1 lead less than three minutes after that.

 

“I feel like he’s always crucial for us,” Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson said of Barkov. “He’s a leader, he’s one of the top players in this league. It’s nice to have him on our team and he’s been coming up big.”        

                                                                     

The Panthers’ captain — who hit 700 career points last game — has 21 goals and 71 points in 65 games this season.            

 

After Robby Fabbri scored the opening goal on Saturday, Detroit held a 1-0 lead for over 30 minutes of play before the Panthers got on the board.

 

Former Panthers goalie, Alex Lyon, was huge for the Wings in the one-goal loss.

 

Lyon had 36 saves and stopped two of three Panthers players in the shootout. Detroit went 0/3 on Sergei Bobrvosky in the shootout.             

 

“Lyon is a good goalie. We know it from the past,” Barkov said. “It’s hard to score on him and this time of the year it’s even harder because teams are battling. Either battling for the playoff spot or they’re (already) there. But I think we found a way, that’s most important.”

 

The Red Wings only beat Bobrovsky twice on Saturday — both goals coming on the power play.  

 

Florida’s goalie had 20 saves — winning his 33rd contest of the year. 

 

Detroit’s captain Dylan Larkin sent the game to overtime after scoring his 29th goal of the season with just four minutes remaining in regulation. 

 

Florida had to kill off six penalties on Saturday — including a 4-on-3 just 34 seconds into overtime. 

 

“We’re working on our kill for the last two games,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “We petitioned the league for a little more penalty kill time, they’ve been good about it.”      

 

Florida has been short handed six times in each of their past two games. 

 

There’s eight games left in the regular season and the Panthers will play the next four on the road before finishing off the season with four consecutive at home. 

 

“That’s perfect timing right,” Maurice on winning at home before their final road trip. “We get out  on the road, finish off this 10 game block, it’s going to be hard… And then we’re home for like a 10 day block.”  

 

Florida improved to 47-22-5 on the season and are now tied with the Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division. 

SUNRISE — Pavel Zacha scored the game winner with 2:21 remaining in regulation as the Bruins defeated the Panthers  4-3 in Sunrise —  jumping Florida for first place in the Atlantic Division.

 

Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak and Trent Frederic also scored for the Bruins as the team improved to 42-16-15 on the season.

 

Jeremy Swayman had 18 saves in what was his 23rd win of the season.

 

Florida held three separate leads in the game, but the Bruins kept the game close and rallied in the final minutes of regulation — scoring two  unanswered goals in the final 4:22 on Tuesday. 

 

“We’ve got to find a way to protect it (the lead),” Pnthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “I think it’s a good learning experience for us. Do what we can and get ready to gear up a little bit.”

 

Neither team shied away from the same intensity they showed each other in last season’s first-round of the playoffs.

 

The two sides went back and forth all night, whether that was exchanging goals, punches or penalties.

 

“I liked our game tonight,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “That’s four and six for us (all lines going). That’s tough and it was a heavy cost to each shift… I don’t mind a little bit of that sour taste right now. A little bit of hunger, a little bit of anger. It keeps them more focused.”

 

Despite still being the regular season, Tuesday night’s game felt more like a playoff game than anything and with top seed in the division and clinching scenarios on the line, that made sense. 

 

“They’re a good team too,” Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen said. “I think it was a good battle. Obviously the intensity was there… so we go from there.”

 

Evan Rodrigues scored 27 seconds into the game, Sam Reinhart picked up his 51st goal of the season and Carter Verhaeghe got his 33rd in the Panthers’ loss. 

 

Aleksander Barkov (lower-body) and Gustav Forsling (illness) both returned to the lineup for the Panthers after missing the team’s two-game over the weekend. 

 

“The guys in the medical room, they got me ready for this game,” Barkov said. “I felt pretty good physically.”

 

Both teams had an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot tonight, depending on a few outcomes of the out of town games, however, neither ended up clinching. 

 

It’s only a matter of time for both teams to officially punch their ticket to the first-round — most likely seeing that comer later in the week. 

 

Florida still remains near the top of the Eastern conference standings with 10 games remaining. They trial Boston by two points for first in the Atlantic. They’ll meet again one more time before the post season.

SUNRISE — Florida conceded the first four goals on Saturday night before pushing a comeback, making it a one goal game late in the third.

 

The rally fell short after Nikita Kucherov put away his 40th goal of the season on an empty net — giving the Lightning the two-points in a 5-3 win over the Panthers. 

 

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy had 47 saves in the game — 35 of those coming in the final  40 minutes — in his 24th win of the season. 

 

“Obviously [there was] very good goaltending on the other side,” Sam Reinhart said. “We had some good looks, gotta give him credit.”

 

Here’s Saturday’s takeaways.

 

Panthers face another early, multi-goal hole

Florida’s past three games have been uncharacteristic of them when compared to the entirety of the season. 

The Panthers trailed 3-0 in three consecutive games: Dallas, Carolina and now Tampa going up  early on them. 

 

They were able to overcome the large deficit Tuesday night in Dallas, defeating the Stars 4-3 — scoring three times in the third. 

 

That wasn’t the case against the Hurricanes however, the Panthers were shutout 4-0. 

 

Prior to last Thursday’s loss in Carolina, the Panthers went 21 straight games not conceding more than three goals.

 

As they did a few days ago against the Stars, Panthers were able to score three unanswered goals — cutting Tampa’s lead to 4-3 — but to get the tying goal.

 

The Lightning iced the game with 1:32 remaining in regulation on a Kucherov empty netter.

 

Kulikov gets ejected

Trailing 3-0 in the second, the Panthers finally got a puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy, making it a two-goal game.

 

Or so they thought.

 

Leading up to the goal, Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov interfered with Lightning forward Conor Sheary, hitting him close to the head.

 

The officials reviewed the call and ended up taking the Panthers goal off the board and issuing Kulikov a five-minute major for a hit to the head. 

 

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice has been around the league since the mid 90’s. A goal being taken off the board after an uncalled penalty was reviewed was a first for him.

“No. Never seen one of those,” Maurice said. “But that’s the beauty of the National Hockey League, they’ll always surprise you with something.”

 

Kulikov has been suspended one time his career. In 2015, during his first stint with the Panthers, Kulikov was suspended four-games for clipping Tyler Seguin.

 

Mayhem break lose in period two 

Tampa scored 20 seconds into the game on Saturday, then added a second goal in the first. It looked like it wasn’t going to get any better for Florida when the second rolled around.

The Lightning grabbed two more goals in the following period, going up 4-0 on the Panthers. The Lightning scored on two of their three shots in the frame. 

 

Dmitry Kulikov’s ejection also came in the second and the Panthers goal came off the board. Then the Lightning scored on a 5-on-3 advantage to make it 4-0. 

 

The Panthers were able to somewhat rally after a few quick goals from Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart — cutting the four-goal deficit to just two.

 

“We definitely played way better once it was 4-0, but we just can’t. It’s 4-0, it’s on us,” Tkachuk said. “We gave up way too many good chances early, that’s not our game, that’s not what’s going to make us successful.”

 

By the time the second intermission rolled around, the game which looked like a Lightning blowout became an actual hockey game. 

 

Florida outshot 18-3 in the second and surpassed that with a 20-2 advantage in the third. 

 

Panthers Notes 

Sam Reinhart scored twice, pushing his season goal total to 48

 

Sam Bennett and Evan Rodrigues returned to the lineup after missing last game against the Hurricanes  

SUNRISE — New Panther Vladimir Tarasenko had two goals and an assists on Saturday in the Panthers 5-1 win over the Calgary 

 

The Panthers, who dropped Thursday night’s game against Philadelphia, bounced back to prevent their first consecutive losses at home since January. 

 

Anthony Stolarz had 34 saves in his 13th win of the season. The Panthers remain the top team in the NHL with a 44-17-4 record.

 

Here’s Saturday’s takeaways.

 

Panthers lose two players to injury

While the final score and overall game effort was positive for the Panthers, they did lose two players to injury before the final buzzer. 

 

Defenseman Aaron Ekblad left Saturday afternoon’s game in the first period after a center ice collision with his teammate, Vladimir Tarasenko.

 

Ekblad immediately skated to the Panthers bench and went down the tunnel, after his left leg collided with Tarasenko’s. 

 

Ekblad was able to get off on his own wait when he headed back to the bench. He took his last shift with 4:41 to go in the period. 

 

With 36 seconds remaining in the second period, the Panthers then lost a second skater to injury. 

 

Forward Evan Rodrigues blocked a slapshot right above the skate on his left leg.

 

Rodrigues fell to the ice and was visibly in pain. He had to be assisted by a trainer back to the locker room.

 

Neither Ekblad nor Rodrigues returned to the game.

 

Head coach Paul Maurice said that updates on both players would come Monday, but after a few more questions regarding Ekblad’s health, he gave a bit of a more assuring update. 

 

“He’s gonna be ok. I don’t know when he’s coming back. It might be practice monday, maybe a little bit longer,” Maurice said. “I’ll give you a real good answer Monday.”

 

These injuries come just one day after the NHL trade deadline. 

 

Welcome to the Tarasenkshow Sunrise 

In his second game with the Panthers, the spotlight was on Vladimir Tarasenko. 

 

Tarasenko had three points on the afternoon — scoring two goals and an assist in the second period.

 

23 seconds into the second, Tarsenko intercepted a pass from former Panther Jonathan Huberdeau and beat another former Panther, Jakob Markstrom, with a snap shot blocker side — giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead. 

 

He scored again with 5:05 left in the period, beating Markstrom from the top of the circle — this time glove side. 

 

“I’m not gonna lie, it’s nice, kind of a relief (to score early during his Panthers tenure),” Tarasenko said. “I feel like I fel comfortable as the game goes on.”

 

Tarasenko also had the secondary assist on Florida’s second goal of the game, scored by Aleksander Barkov.  

 

He was acquired on Wednesday in a trade from Ottawa.

 

Five-goal middle frame

The first two periods of Thursday’s game couldn’t have been more opposite. 

 

After 20 minutes of play, both teams were scoreless — with a combined 18 shots on goal.

 

The second period looked as if two different teams were playing. 

 

“We weren’t really excited about our start,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “We needed to get physical and Vlad’s (Tarasenko) got the first hit in there and that kind of started things for us.”

 

There were five total goals in the second — four coming from the Panthers and just one for the flames.

 

“We were better in the second period,” Maurice added. “I mean our goaltender was fantastic tonight.”

 

Tarasenko scored twice for the Panthers. Barkov and Bennett also had a goal before the period was over.

Yegor Shrangovich had the lone Flames goal, which came seven seconds into their second  power play. 

 

Panthers Notes

Kevin Stenlund scored the fifth Panthers goal, shorthanded

 

Gustav Forsling had two assists and was a +3 

 

The Panthers will next play March 12th in Dallas against the Stars

 

Florida won’t play another home game until March 16th against the Tampa Bay Lightning

SUNRISE — The Philadelphia Flyers were the last team to beat the Panthers at home — on Feb. 6. In their return to Sunrise, they repeated the occasion, defeating Florida 2-1 with a last second winning goal.

 

Garnet Hathaway gave Philadelphia their 33rd win after scoring with 21.3 seconds left in Thursday night’s contest.

 

Samuel Ersson had 29 saves in an important win for the Flyers as they hold the final metropolitan playoff spot with 18 games remaining on their schedule. 

 

Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky had 24 saves in the loss — the Panthers are now 43-17-4 on the season but remain first in the NHL standings. 

 

After a scoreless opening period, the Flyers broke the ice just 10 seconds into the second.

 

Ryan Poehling drove the net, dropped the shoulder and roofed his eighth goal of the season over Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. 

 

Philadelphia’s lead lasted seven minutes before Florida would answer. 

 

7:12 into the season, Gustav Forsling scored his 10th goal of the season, tying the game at 1-1. 

 

Thursday was a great personal day for the Panthers’ top-line defenseman. Before he ripped a point shot past Flyers goalie Samuel Errson, the 27-year-old inked an eight-year, $46M extension with the Panthers — cementing him as a solidified core piece going forward in Sunrise. 

 

Forsling, who was a waiver pickup when he was brought to Florida in 2021, reflected on his journey from nearly going to the AHL to signing a maximum term extension.

 

“It’s very emotional actually, it’s life changing,” Forsling said. “I’m just very grateful for everything they’ve done (Bill Zito and the Panthers).”

 

The last day and a half leading up to Thursday’s games was an exciting period in South Florida.

 

All eyes were on the Panthers after gm Bill Zito made a big swing to acquire four-time All-Star, Vladimir Tarasenko from Ottawa. 

 

After being acquired on Wednesday, Tarasenko took the ice for his Florida Panthers debut.

 

Tarasenko, 32, played on Florida’s top line with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart. He also appeared on the Panthers’ second power play unit.

 

“I like the small things that he did that are non skill related,” head coach Paul Maurice said when speaking of Tarasenko’s debut. “The skill’s there, we’re not worried about that. But he blocked some shots and picked up reads very quickly with a whole bunch of new systems.”

 

The two sides kept the game tied for most of the night. It wasn’t until the final minute of play where someone would break the deadlock. 

 

Garnet Hathaway’s seventh goal of the season came at the perfect time as he snuck a rebound shot behind Bobrovsky for the game winner. 

 

Panthers Notes

The Panthers’ next opponent will be the Calgary Flames, this Saturday afternoon at home

 

Friday, March 8th at 3 p.m. ET is the NHL Trade Deadline. The Panthers have just over $3M in deadline cap space if they wish to make any additional moves