Connect with us

Florida Panthers

Florida Panthers Turn It Up, Turn Back Wild to Close Road Trip

Published

4 months ago

on

Panthers wild

The Minnesota Wild went with its retro North Stars-inspired look Wednesday night, only it was the playoff-vintage Florida Panthers who showed up in St. Paul.

After what had been a rough start to the five-game road trip, the Panthers finished it up in style, beating the Wild in all facets of the game in a dominant 6-1 win.

Florida was all over the Wild, using a heavy forecheck and its speed to control the puck and hound Marc-Andre Fleury throughout.

Aaron Ekblad opened the scoring 3:48 into the game and ended with a three-point night. Matthew Tkachuk scored twice, with Mackie Samoskevich and Carter Verhaeghe ending with two points.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves for the win.

No One Covers the Florida Panthers Like FHN. Period.

Subscribe to Florida Hockey Now Today!

The Panthers, who have struggled at the Xcel Center over the years but have won two of their past three there, went 3-2 on this road trip which started last Tuesday in Seattle.

Both teams had goals come off the board due to video review, only to get them right back.

Down 1-0 after the Ekblad goal, Minnesota was called for goalie interference erasing Karill Kaprizov’s goal. The Wild tied it not long after that.

Up 2-1, the Panthers were cited for offside after Sasha Barkov scored on a sweet backdoor feed from Tkachuk — only to have Tkachuk score off a soccer pass goal from Barkov less than 2 minutes later.

Tkachuk got his second of the night on the power play with 1:06 left in the second to give the Panthers a 4-1 lead heading into the third.

PANTHERS WILD NOTES

  • Jesper Boqvist left the game after hitting his head up against the stanchion along the Minnesota bench early in the third period.
  • Minnesota was 11-2-3 against the Panthers in St. Paul — with points in 14 of 16 — coming into the game.
  • The Wild beat the Panthers 5-1 on Oct. 22 in Sunrise.
  • The Panthers improved to 13-0 when up after 40, and are 14-3-0 this season when scoring first.
  • Florida has won two straight and are back home for two of the next three. The Panthers play host to the Blues on Friday before playing a home-and-home set with the Lightning before the holiday break.
  • The Panthers have 19 goals from their defensemen this season which is tied for second in the NHL. Columbus leads with 21 — 10 coming from Zach Werenski.

HOW THEY SCORED

  • Panthers 1, Wild 0 (3:48 1st): Aaron Ekblad fires off a 50-foot shot and puts it over Marc-Andre Fleury’s blocker.
  • Wild 1, Panthers 1 (16:11 1st PP): Marco Rossi gets the puck from Kirill Kaprizov in front of the net and roofs a backhander past Sergei Bobrovsky.
  • Panthers 2, Wild 1 (18:14 1st): Ekblad gets the puck off a Minnesota turnover in the offensive zone and gets the puck up the ice to Mackie Samoskevich who rifles a wrister far corner for his first goal in six games.
  • Panthers 3, Wild 1 (15:28 2nd): Carter Verhaeghe gets this slick sequence going, throwing the puck to Sasha Barkov in the slot. The pass was a little off — so Barkov redirects the puck with his skate soccer-style and puts it right on Matthew Tkachuk’s stick on the right side of the cage.
  • Panthers 4, Wild 1 (18:54 2nd PP): Ekblad’s heavy point shot comes off Fleury, clips Verhaeghe and ends up in the back of the net courtesy of Tkachuk.
  • Panthers 5, Wild 1 (11:10 3rd): Niko Mikkola finds himself wide open at the top of the left circle, flies one toward the net and gets his second in as many games.
  • Panthers 6, Wild 1 (19:30 3rd): Eetu Luostarinen gets to a loose puck off a deflection in the slot and scores.

GR’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

  • 1. Aaron Ekblad, Florida
  • 2. Matthew Tkachuk, Florida
  • 3. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida

ON DECK: GAME No. 34
ST. LOUIS BLUES AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

Get FHN+ today!
Related Topics:

Get FHN in your inbox!

Be the first to know. Enter your email to get the latest from Florida Hockey Now delivered straight to your inbox.