The Florida Panthers continue their red hot start, defeating the Red Wings 7-2 on Friday night. The Panthers are now off to an 11-2-2 start, having 24 out of a possible 30 points through the season’s first 15 games.
Game Recap:
The Florida Panthers started out the scoring early in the first period with two goals coming in under two minutes by Juho Lammikko (6:09) and MacKenzie Weegar (7:58). Patric Hornqvist (12:45) added a 3rd goal a few minutes later to make it 3-0. Bobby Ryan (14:06) got on the board for the Wings after a Panthers close call. Aleksander Barkov answered right back with a goal to close the period out with the Panthers leading 4-1. Aaron Ekblad for the Panthers scored the 2nd periods only goal with 22 seconds left. Detroit got their final goal early in the 3rd after a power play goal by Valtteri Flippula. Patric Hornquist continued his great night, scoring a second goal off of a power play. The icing on the cake was the speedy Anthony Duclair, getting his 2nd goal of the season.
Stats:
Patric Hornqvist- 2 G
Aleksander Barkov- G, 2 A
Anthony Duclair- G, A
MacKenzie Weegar- G, A
Aaron Ekblad- G
Juko Lammikko- G
Keith Yandle- 3 A
Jonathan Huberdeau– 2 A (22 points, the most by a player in franchise history through 15 games.)
Chris Driedger– 6-1-1, .922 SV%, 30/32 SV
Bobby Ryan- G
Valtteri Flippula- G
Thomas Greiss (1st period)- 1-10-3, .692 SV%
Jonathan Bernier (2nd-3rd)- .885 SV%
Takeaways:
The Florida Panthers looked nearly flawless on all sides of the puck. The fourth line for the Cats (Frank Vatrano, Eetu Luostarinen, and Owen Tippett) played really well on Friday night. The Panthers defense also played a key part, with Weegar and Ekblad each getting a goal, and Keith Yandle racking up three assists. In total, the Panthers had a season-high 7 goals, on a season-high 39 shots. Florida now holds the highest point percentage in the NHL’s overall standings (.800).
Hornqvist: “Just keep rolling, keep feeling good about ourselves and keep working hard.”
Next Up
The Florida Panthers wrap up their road trip against the Detroit Red Wings tonight at 5:00 PM EST.
Money Line: Florida -175
Puck Line: Florida -1.5
Over/Under: 5.5