Flattened: Minnesota Wild Steamroll the Florida Panthers

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers had a big night planned Tuesday, only the buzzkill Minnesota Wild ruined the night.

The Panthers not only announced a new contract for coach Paul Maurice, but hoped to celebrate Sergei Bobrovsky’s 400th NHL win as part of the festivities.

And, with the Panthers going away for the next two weeks, they certainly would have liked to leave town feeling good about things.

Again, Minnesota messed it all up.

The Wild, a team which had not trailed for a single minute this season, jumped to a three-goal lead before running out of town with a 5-1 win.

Bobrovsky not only did not get his 400th win, but he did not even finish the game.

Spencer Knight took over to start the third with Florida down 5-1.

Hey, one of those nights.

Florida found itself down 3-0 before Carter Verhagehe found Sam Bennett going to the front of the net midway through the second.

But the Wild scored two more to close the period and take complete control of the game.

The Panthers saw their four-game (3-0-1) point streak snapped and went 1-1-1 on this three-game homestand.

Florida flies to New York on Wednesday and plays the Rangers at the Garden on Thursday.

That will be the first of a five-game road trip which will take them all over New York — and Finland, as well.

After playing in Buffalo on Monday night, the team will fly to Helsinki and play in Sasha Barkov’s hometown of Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 1-2 against the Dallas Stars.

Florida’s next home game will be Nov. 7 against Nashville.

GOALS OF THE GAME

• Wild 1, Panthers 0 (11:40, 1st): Marco Rossi camps out in the slot and deflects a shot from Kirill Kaprizov past Sergei Bobrovsky to get things going.
• Wild 2, Panthers 0 (12:02, 1st): Marcus Johansson one-times a pass from Matt Boldy in the left circle and things ain’t looking good for the Panthers.
• Wild 3, Panthers 0 (2:40, 2nd PP): Boldy tips a point shot from Mats Zuccarello. 
• Wild 3, Panthers 1 (11:19, 2nd): Carter Verhaeghe finds Sam Bennett crashing the net and the Panthers have themselves a goal.
• Wild 4, Panthers 1 (13:58, 2nd): Zuccarello one-times a pass from Kaprizov after he pulled Bobrovsky out of the net with a nice wraparound move.
• Wild 5, Panthers 1 (16:05, 2nd): Joel Eriksson Ek scores from the left circle.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

• 1. Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota
• 2. Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota
• 3. Mats Zuccarello, Minnesota

ON DECK: GAME NO. 9

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT NEW YORK RANGERS

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/Fort Lauderdale); WHDT 9 (West Palm); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/Fort Myers)
• Streaming: Panthers+; 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 vs. Rangers — Regular Season: Panthers won 2-1; Eastern Conference Finals: Panthers won 4-2. 
• This Season — At Florida: Dec 30; April 14. At MSG: Thursday.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Rangers lead 61-34-8, 6 ties
• Postseason History: Rangers won 4-1 (1997, 1st round); Panthers won 4-2 (2024 ECF)
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday at New York Islanders, 7 p.m.