The Florida Panthers are the fourth team in NHL history to start 10-0 at home, defeating the first-place in the Central Division Minnesota Wild, 5-4. Frank Vatrano led the way for the Panthers, scoring two goals and an assist. Aaron Ekblad also had two assists. Although he allowed two goals in the last 46 seconds, Sergei Bobrovsky had a great night, stopping 34 of 38 shots on net.
First Period
The Panthers came out quickly and dominated, overall outshooting the Wild 15-5 in the period. Owen Tippett would break the ice, scoring on the backhand to make it 1-0.
Second Period
Frank Vatrano would make it 2-0 when he and Tippett broke out on a 2-on-1. Vatrano would do a head fake and shoot the puck Cam Talbot. Brandon Montour would receive a slashing penalty at 11:27 in the period, and 21 seconds later, Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello would set up Joel Eriksson Ek for a power play goal. The Panthers would answer a little over three minutes later when Frank Vatrano got his second goal of the period. Gustav Forsling would miss a shot, which gave Vatrano the opportunity to shoot the puck, and make it 3-1.
Third Period
Not even two minutes into the period, Kirill Kaprizov would cut the Panthers lead to one. The Panthers would answer a few minutes later, with Carter Verhaeghe scoring a very pretty goal which went in the corner of the net, making it 4-2.
However, Minnesota would not quit. The Wild pulled Cam Talbot with five minutes remaining in the game. The final minute of the game would be a ‘Very Wild’ ending. With 46 seconds left in the game, Marcus Foligno would score a controversial goal, putting the Wild back within one. There were questions of it being offsides, but the puck was on the blue line, making the goal stand.
Nine seconds later, Sam Bennett would score an empty netter; you would think this goal sealed the win for Florida, but that would not be the case. With nine seconds remaining, Ryan Hartman and the Wild would score another goal to put the game back within one. The Wild would get one last face-off chance, but Sergei Bobrovsky would stop the puck this time, closing out the game.
Takeaways
- The Florida Panthers are the third team in NFL history to score at least four goals in each of their first 10 home games to start a season, one game shy of matching the NHL record (11, 1992-93 PHI).
- The Cats have won 14 straight home contests dating back to April 24 vs Carolina.
- The Florida Panthers improved to 10-0-0 at FLA Live Arena, tied for the second-longest home win streak to start a season in NHL history (also MTL in 2016-17 & SEN in 1925-96). The Blackhawks hold the record with an 11-game stretch in 1963-64.
- Sergei Bobrovsky (8-0-2) made 35 saves and became the second goaltender in Panthers history to collect at least one point in 10-consecutive decisions, joining Roberto Luongo (9-0-1 in 2015-16).
- Joe Thornton factored on Frank Vatrano’s first goal of the night, marking the 120th player he has assisted on – the most among all active NHL players. The next closest active player is Zdeno Chara (114).
Next Up
The Panthers will continue their home-stand when they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.