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| Aleksander Barkov #16 of the Florida Panthers celebrates his goal with teammate MacKenzie Weegar #52 during the second period against the Detroit Red Wings at the BB&T Center on February 3, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images) |
A strange ending came at the end of the game that sent the Red Wings steaming at BB&T Center Saturday night. Calls for a penalty went unanswered as Jonathan Huberdeau scored the game winning goal that gave the Florida Panthers a 3-2 win. It gave them a four-game winning streak and a reach of the Red Wings who stand ahead of them in the standings. The loss snapped Detroit’s two game streak that saw them act slow after a back to back but were very much trying to compete.
Detroit’s victory on Friday night was not only important coming into Florida but also to their chances of keeping up the winning streak while facing Atlantic division foes. The Red Wings sought their fourth win on the road and goaltender Petr Mrazek back in net. His 1.02 GAA and .967 save percentage gave him so much confidence to do well once again. He would gain face a team that carried a three-game streak of victories after beating the Islanders and Sabres on the road. With the teams on a collision course where one would be defeated, the importance of starting on time would be the essential point.
Tomas Tatar wanted to be the one to get things started and nearly did so with a break ahead of Mike Matheson going a shot. While the puck went to the five hole of Harri Sateri, the puck never crossed the goal line. The Panthers got their push together after witnessing the threat thereby taking the role themselves. A good scoring chance from Huberdeau got something off of Aaron Ekblad where the puck rang through the net with the team knowing they scored which was then confirmed quickly. Ekblad got his 10th of the season with Huberdeau accepting his 33rd assist.
Detroit’s performance took a slide from that point forward as they struggled to keep a tight defense around Mrazek that nearly led the Panthers to widening the gap. Florida couldn’t heighten the strength but had an edge over Detroit through a majority of the period. When it was near a close, the Red Wings showed some frustration while they slowly gained shots at Sateri to try and put the offense back into gear. During 4 on 4 play, Detroit had possession of the puck but couldn’t create any further scoring chances.
The pace was still slow for the Red Wings and the Panthers who were struggling despite the home team having the lead. Through the first several minutes, Florida seemed to have the advantage but had difficulties breaking another goal through Mrazek. His relentlessness gave his team some pep to get some plays together and level the game. At 8:51, it was exactly what the Red Wing achieved as they came into the Panthers zone with a 3 on 2 chance. Frans Nielsen found defenseman Danny DeKeyser coming down the center line where he got the pass, eyed his aim and launched the puck high over the shoulder of Sateri for goals in two straight games.
Andreas Athanasiou got inspired to get himself back in the scoring sheet and nearly got Detroit it’s second of the night. Despite missing, the Red Wings were gaining a hold of control that had them shot for shot against Florida. The Panthers put a stop to it five minutes later when they got a break that led to Aleksander Barkov’s rifling of the puck that gave them back the lead for his 16th of the year. It was their momentum that allowed them to stay out front for the duration of the period. They both had nine shots respectively with the Red Wing wanting to keep the game level.
Three minutes into the third period, they managed to do it a third time with DeKeyser scoring his second of the night. After a rebound came to the 27-year-old defenseman it went off his skate before getting a stick on it before it crossed the goal line making it a good goal. With both on a pace that made the game intense, fighting for the go ahead and possible game winning goal was very critical.
The Panthers almost had the job done in the final minutes where they had a shot very close to going in but instead moved all around the crease where both the Red Wings and the Panthers fought for it. A minute remained on the clock and the game was still tied. Florida went for a chance at making things happened while they had possession. A few tries on Mrazek led to a play where Huberdeau got in the crease of the Detroit netminder and bumped into the goaltender slightly.
As Mrazek fell back, Huberdeau hit the puck with his stick between the five hole to score it with 7.7 seconds left. A call from the league in Toronto challenged the call to have it looked at. After a few minutes, officials decided that there was no interference on Mrazek giving Florida the game in hand.
Coach Jeff Blashill lost his cool as well as Mrazek who came off the ice to give the Red Wings a sixth man. It wasn’t enough time for them to make anything of it thereby suffering a very tough loss. The team took their time to leave the ice in the hopes that something could be changed and that play could move into overtime. There was nothing more to be done as they reluctantly left the bench ending the night in controversy.
Despite being out of the chance for any points, they’ll try to get back at it when they host the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.
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