Detroit – Failing to overcome the absence of numerous key players, the Florida Panthers finished their road trip on Sunday after losing 2-1 to the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesar Arena.
The already injured Panthers took the ice in Detroit without Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett or Gustav being dumped as several players are trying to make their way into the playoffs.
“It was good to be looking at how we measure ourselves with things we gave up regardless of the lineup,” said coach Paul Maurice when asked about his team’s performance. “I liked our first (period).”
Fill in and Rasmus Asplund, Jesse Puljujarvi and Matt Kiersed have been recalled from AHL.
Overall, the Panthers have lost six of their current top 10 goalkeepers.
“I thought the people coming in were doing an incredible job,” forward Mackie Samoskevich said. “It was almost seamless. They played great and quickly fitted into the game.”
Due to losses, the Panthers currently sit 44-29-4 with five games remaining in the regular season.
For now, the defending Stanley Cup champion is just two points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, who is second in the Atlantic division, but is also two points ahead of the Ottawa Senator in the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.
“I’m not saying that it’s important where we’re going,” Samoskevich said. “If you’re going to win everything, you have to beat everyone. Not only are you not opening the game, you’re still working on forechecking. That’s what works in the playoffs. I think we’re doing that now.”
During the first period of scoreless, Vitek Vanecek came up with two big stops for the Panthers. After signing a dangerous re-capture from Patrick Kane at 12:14, the veteran goaltender rejected Lucas Raymond with a point blank shot from the doorstep of a penalty kill.
Alex DeBrancutt, who broke the ice in the second season, buried an evil shot from the left circle on the power play to make it 1-0 at 4:37, then put the red wings on top.
Enter the matchup. The Red Wings ranked third in the NHL with a 28.1% power play.
Doubled Detroit’s lead, JT Confer flew down the left side of the ice and hit Vanechek with a shot far from the left circle, making it 2-0 at 11:23.
“When we were in the penalty box in the second term, we felt a bit troubling there,” Maurice said. “They scored a goal and finally rolled to make it 2-0. They came back.”
Near the end of the third season before and after, the fist began flying.
When the dust settled, Azi Grier and Jonah Gajovic were in the box for the Panthers, and Ben Ciarott went into the box of the Red Wings, giving her own rough penalty.
Gadjovic was also subjected to 10 minutes of fraud.
When the Panthers deny a shot that cut the deficit half with 3:55 left in regulation, Cam Talbot flies to the right to cover the loose puck before Prujjalvi gets a chance to tap it.
With the Panthers on the board, Samoskevich fired a shot from the left circle, caught a portion of Anton Randell and sailed into the cage, making it 2-1 with 39.9 seconds left.
