George Richards, FHN Publisher
Quite a few streaks came to an end Sunday when the Detroit Red Wings upset the Florida Panthers 4-1.
First, the Wings snapped an eight-game losing streak which had gone on for three weeks.
Second, Detroit ended its eight-game personal losing streak to the Panthers — while Florida’s 10-game point streak (9-0-1) against the Wings also came to a close.
But most importantly for the Panthers was the end of their run if games to pick up at least a point to start this season.
Florida had opened 6-0-2 and were the only team left in the NHL which had not lost a game in regulation in 2021.
That is over, too.
It was a heck of a run for the Panthers — one that nonetheless ends in disappointment with a loss to one of the worst teams in the NHL albeit one which plays Florida tough.
”This didn’t go the way we planned,” said Alex Wennberg, the only Florida player to score Sunday.
”It’s not the result we wanted but there are a lot of things you can learn from this. We can look at it, be better next game.”
The fourth game of the eight-game series between Florida and Detroit will be Tuesday at BB&T Center.
Friday’s game: Florida Panthers 2, Nashville Predators 1
Chris Driedger got the start in net for the Panthers and took his second loss of the season — but first outside of the shootout loss at Columbus last month.
Driedger (3-1-1) stopped 31 shots. Detroit’s final goal of the day came into an empty net.
Thomas Greiss, the former Islanders goalie who continues to play well against the Panthers, made 35 saves as he got his first win since joining the Red Wings (1-7-2).
”he played pretty well, on every shot he was there,” Jonathan Huberdeau. “He was really good. We just have to come back Tuesday, be better and find the back of the net.”
Expect to see Greiss back in net Tuesday for the rematch. The Panthers will likely turn to Sergei Bobrovsky.
First period highlights
Despite their rough starts to games of late, the Red Wings came out humming early and put some early pressure on Dreidger.
Neither team scored in a pretty even first period although it is one the Panthers seemed to control regardless of whether they could get one past Greiss or not.
Shots of goal were even in the first and shot attempts weren’t that far off either (Florida 19-14).
But when it came to possession time, the Panthers seemed to spend much of the period in the Detroit end — and much of the time, it was their big guns working it.
Detroit lost alternate captain Luke Glendening midway through the period when he took a heavy hit from Radko Gudas at center ice.
Although Gudas did not seem to charge Glendening nor aim for his head — and was not penalized on the ice — the NHL’s department of safety will be looking at th
Second period highlights
The Red Wings cracked the ice first, taking a 1-0 lead 2:58 into the second.
Detroit got the goal when Sam Gagner — who missed the first two games of the series due to Covid-19 protocols — put a shot at net that Marc Staal tracked down and put past Dreidger.
Greiss, as usual, was pretty tough against the Panthers stopping a number of point-blank shots in the second.
The Panthers again dominated possession time yet found themselves down 2-0 going into the third.
With 2:58 left in the period, Keith Yandle fumbled the puck deep in the Florida zone. Bobby Ryan picked it off and fed a charging Givani Smith who put Detroit’s 20th shot of the day past Driedger.
“It was a tough play, a tough pass and put him in a tough spot,” Joel Quenneville said. “Hey, you don’t want to get scored on, don’t want to give up the puck. Sometimes that’s going to happen, mistakes happen regularly. That gave them a little excitement at the end of the period.”
Florida ended the period outshooting Detroit 24-20.
Third period highlights
Florida got on the board and cut Detroit’s lead to a goal early on in the third.
The Panthers worked the puck around to the side boards where Anton Stralman fired off a long shot. Wennberg leaned into the lane with his stick, knocked the puck out of the air and redirected it into the net.
The goal came just 2:09 into the third period — giving Florida ample time to come back on the Red Wings.
Well, had they kept the Wings off the board, perhaps.
Midway through the third, Florida looked to tie the score when Owen Tippett and Sasha Barkov got loose on a rush.
Tippett fed Barkov as they crossed into the zone with Barkov giving it back as Tippett charged the net.
Greiss stopped the shot, Detroit turned up ice in transition and made it 3-1 when Robby Fabbri knocked in a loose puck off a shot from Smith.
”We had a 3-on-1 with all the right guys out there and next thing you know, it is 3-1 instead of 2-2,” Quenneville said.
“That was a turning point for us in the game because Dreidger gave us a chance. Obviously we didn’t press enough at the end. Right there, it looked like we were coming.”
That third goal marked the most Driedger had given up in a single game this season.
With just over three minutes left and the Panthers down 3-1, Driedger went to the bench and Detroit ended up scoring its fourth goal of the day into the vacated net.
“He kept us in the game,” Huberdeau said of Driedger.
Up Next: Detroit Red Wings at Florida Panthers
When: Tuesday, 7
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise
Tickets: Available HERE
TV/Radio: FSF/560-AM