Motoring: Florida Panthers 4, Detroit Red Wings 0

Anyone wondering how good the Florida Panthers are playing right now only had to tune into Saturday’s nationally televised game from Detroit.

The Panthers, in a word, are rolling.

Florida, the top team in the entire NHL, won its fourth straight with a dominant 4-0 win over the Red Wings on Saturday.

The Panthers have won 10 of their past 11, and 14 of 16.

Florida has also won 10 of 11 against the Red Wings and are now 13-2 at Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit.

The Panthers have won six straight in Detroit and 13 of the past 14.

Sergei Bobrovsky continued his excellent play against the Red Wings, improving to 26-6-1.

After making 22 saves in Florida’s 2-0 win in Detroit on Nov. 2, Bobrovsky made 21 on Saturday to get another Motor City shutout.

Although he did not face many shots, Bobrovsky was terrific on Saturday — his big save coming on a Patrick Kane breakaway with 3:47 left in the second.

Saturday felt a lot like a playoff game as the two team combined for 30 hits — Florida had 18 of them — in a scoreless first period.

Between the different skirmishes which broke out, the Panthers scored twice in the second period to take a 2-0 lead into the third.

Brandon Montour got Florida going, coming up in the rush and hopping all over a big rebound Alex Lyon left off a shot from Evan Rodrigues.

Sam Reinhart made it 2-0 on a power play goal, Sasha Barkov feeding him from the side wall. Reinhart’s 42nd goal of the season, tied Carter Verhaeghe for third most in a season in Panthers history, went off the stick of Detroit defenseman Jeff Petry on its way past Lyon.

In the third, Rodrigues got his by one-timing a pass from Eetu Luostarinen.

It was Rodrigues’ first goal in 13 games.

Carter Verhaeghe got into the mix with 6:58 left, scoring on a power play off a 50-foot shot from the top of the slot.

The game was chippy throughout with a handful of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties handed out — including to Matthew Tkachuk, who ended his game serving Ryan Lomberg’s 4-minute roughing penalties.

Lomberg also was one of three players to get tossed from the game in the third.

The two teams combined for 70 minutes of penalties.

Florida was 2-for-5 on the power play; Detroit went 0-for-5.

The Panthers move on to another marquee game Monday at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers.

New York is currently 3 points back of Florida for the top spot in the NHL standings.

GOALS OF THE GAME

• Panthers 1, Detroit 0 (8:10, 2nd): Brandon Montour scores his fourth goal in seven games by pouncing off a fat rebound from an Evan Rodrigues shot.
• Panthers 2, Detroit 0 (13:06, 2nd PP): Sam Reinhart one-times a Sasha Barkov pass from outside the slot, with the shot deflecting off the stick of defenseman Jeff Petry and past Alex Lyon.
• Panthers 3, Detroit 0 (4:39, 3rd): Rodrigues got his first goal in 13 games, rifling off a shot from the top of the right circle to give Sergei Bobrovsky and the Panthers a little more breathing room.
• Panthers 4, Detroit 0 (13:02, 3rd PP): Carter Verhagehe smashed a pass from Montour, ripping it from above the left circle and past Lyon. On Monday, Barkov was credited with deflecting the shot.

GR’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida

2. Brandon Montour, Florida

3. Evan Rodrigues, Florida

GAME NOTES

Bobrovsky kept Kane from extending his point streak to 11 games.

Kane was trying to  become the sixth Detroit player to have an 11-game point streak in their first season with the club, a group which includes former Panthers Ray Sheppard (12 in 1991-92), and Dino Ciccarelli (11 in 1992-93).

— Montour got his 64th career goal while skating in is 499th game. He will join Aaron Ekblad as the second defenseman from the 2014 NHL Draft to reach the 500-game milestone on Monday.

His 35 goals are the second-most among defensemen in that draft class, also behind Ekblad (115).

— With 24 power-play goals this season, Reinhart is the fifth active players to hit that mark in their careers. Leon Draisaitl had 32 in 2022-23 and 24 in 2021-22; Chris Kreider (26 in 2021-22), Alex Ovechkin (25 in 2014-15 & 24 in 2013-14) and Steven Stamkos (24 in 2009-10) are the others.

ON DECK

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ NEW YORK RANGERS

• When: Monday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last Season: Rangers won 3-0
• This Season (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Florida: Panthers 4 Rangers 3 (Dec. 29). At MSG: Monday; March 24 (ABC).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Rangers lead 60-33-8, 6 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Tuesday at New Jersey Devils, 7