Mike Hoffman scores late to force OT, but Panthers come up short against Red Wings
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings were finally able to feel good about themselves.
Gustav Nyquist scored 3:44 into overtime to lift the Red Wings to their first win of the season, 4-3 over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
Dennis Cholowski and Dylan Larkin each had a goal and an assist, and Thomas Vanek also scored for the Red Wings, who were 0-5-2 in their first seven games. Jimmy Howard stopped 34 shots.
The Red Wings were the only winless team coming into the game, as the Panthers recorded their first victory Friday night at Washington.
"It's great to come in here and see smiles after the game. We all needed this," Howard said.
On the winner, Nyquist grabbed a loose puck and his shot from the slot beat goalie Michael Hutchinson on the stick side.
"Seven games and you're looking for your first win, it's not the position you want to be in, but finally we got that one and it feels nice," Nyquist said.
Trailing 3-2, Florida's Mike Hoffman tied the score with 1:16 left in the third as his shot from the left circle went between Howard's pads.
Nick Bjugstad and Keith Yandle each had a goal and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov recorded a pair of assists for the Panthers, who played into overtime for the fourth time in their six games. Hutchinson finished with 27 saves.
The Panthers blew a 2-0 lead, allowing three goals in the second period.
"Our second periods have to get better," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "It's hurt us all year. It hurt us again tonight."
Each of the Panthers' six games have been decided by one goal.
"Obviously we wanted to get the full two points here tonight in first back-to-back of the season," Hoffman said. "One point is better than none."
Detroit took a 3-2 lead on Larkin's goal in the second. Darren Helm passed to Larkin on the left side of the crease and Larkin poked it into the net at 7:50.
Barkov was awarded a penalty shot when he was hooked from behind by Cholowski at 1:49 of the third but he was unsuccessful.
Trailing 2-0, the Red Wings scored two power-play goals in 18 seconds in the second period. Cholowski took advantage of a 5-on-3 when he fired the puck from the point past Hutchinson at 5:47 to make the score 2-1.
Vanek's shot from the slot tied it at 6:05.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead after Yandle took a pass from Evgenii Dadonov in the high slot to the left circle and beat Howard glove side at 7:34 of the first.
The Red Wings appeared to tie it when Michael Rasmussen tipped in the puck past Hutchinson. The Panthers challenged for goalie interference by Justin Abdelkader and the goal was disallowed.
"We were down 2-0 in the first, got the goal called back. For a team that was fragile, we did a good job digging in," coach Jeff Blashill said.
The Panthers stretched their lead to 2-0 when Bjugstad grabbed the puck off the faceoff from Barkov and fired it past Howard with 3:50 remaining in the opening period.
NOTES: Panthers D Mike Matheson returned from a two-game suspension for a hit on Vancouver rookie Elias Pettersson. ... Red Wings D Jonathan Ericsson returned from IR and played his first game of the season. D Danny DeKeyser was placed on IR retroactive to Oct. 13.
UP NEXT
Red Wings: Host Carolina on Monday.
Panthers: At the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
