RECAP: Panthers 4, Red Wings 0

DETROIT – Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 21 shots he faced to backstop the Florida Panthers to a 4-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.

Improving to 41-16-4, the Panthers, who sit atop the Atlantic Division, have won 14 of their last 16 games.

“It’s a good opponent,” said Bobrovsky, who picked up his 30^th win and fourth shutout of the campaign. “It was a great fight, great battle. It’s a big win.”

Despite the fact the Red Wings entered tonight’s matchup with the fourth-ranked offense in the NHL, the Panthers held them without a goal for the second time in three meetings this season.

Given the talent on both sides, there was also somewhat of a playoff-like feel on the ice this afternoon.

“It was more physical than our previous games,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “It was closer to the Carolina game in terms of the energy we had to spend to win that game. I’ve liked both of them. They’re fun to play in. There’s something on the line.”

What the first period lacked in goals, it made up for in physicality. While neither team managed to touch the twine, they combined for 29 total hits after 20 minutes. Eighteen of those hits belonged to the Panthers, who had 11 different skaters register at least one.

Early in the period, the Red Wings thought they’d opened the scoring, but the goal was quickly waved off due to Michael Rasmussen clearly interfering with Bobrovsky.

After two big penalty kills early in the second period, the Panthers opened the scoring when Brandon Montour cashed in on a rebound in the slot to make it 1-0 at 8:50. Carrying a hot stick, Montour has registered 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his last seven games.

Keeping the lead intact, Bobrovsky robbed Patrick Kane on a 2-on-1 rush soon after.

“We built as that game went on,” Maurice said. “The most important part was probably the two kills at the start of the second. The first period was pretty smartly played. We were a little behind it in the first, but we should be. They should be rolling at the first start of that.”

Finding the back of the net on the power play for the second straight game, Sam Reinhart doubled the lead to 2-0 when he buried a one-timer from the slot at 13:06. His 42^nd goal of the season, he leads the NHL in power-play goals (24) and ranks second in road goals (22).

Immediately following Reinhart’s goal, the Red Wings started a brawl.

Never a dull moment, eh?

“It’s part of our game, part of our DNA,” Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues said.

Near the end of the second period, Bobrovsky made his biggest stop of the afternoon.

Shutting down one of the NHL’s all-time great players in one-on-one situations, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner closed his five-hole to stone Kane on a breakaway.

“His hands are so quick,” Bobrovsky said. “He made a hell of a move.”

Padding the lead in the third period, Rodrigues teed up a pass from Eetu Luostarinen and blasted home a sizzling one-timer from the top of the right circle to make it 3-0 at 4:39.

After Ben Chiarot took a shot at Matthew Tkachuk, another big brawl broke out.

With the bad blood continuing to boil over on the ice, the Panthers earned a four-minute power play at 12:45 when Jake Walman was whistled for both a roughing and a slashing penalty against Gustav Forsling. For the incident, Walman also received a misconduct.

Just 17 seconds into the ensuing four-minute power play, Carter Verhaeghe took a pass from Montour and wired a shot into the net through heavy traffic to make it 4-0 at 13:02.

Ending the game on the penalty after a late double-minor infraction, the Panthers, despite already having the win in the bag, put their bodies on the line to block shots and keep the shutout intact for Bobrovsky all the way until the final horn sounded.

In addition to going 2-for-5 on the power play, Florida finished a perfect 5-for-5 on the PK.

“They’re a good team over there,” Montour said. “There’s a chance we could see them come playoff time. We wanted to bring a good effort. I thought the guys did a good job.”

THEY SAID IT

“They’ve got a good team. They’ve got good offense, good defense, good goalies. It was a good game.” – Sergei Bobrovsky

“Our penalty kill is maybe the quiet driver of the year.” – Paul Maurice

“They play a pretty wide-open game. They like to seam a lot of pucks and stay back in the neutral zone. I think we focused on just staying patient and letting them make the msitakes. When they did, we capitalized.” – Evan Rodrigues

CATS STATS

- Sam Reinhart’s 42 goals are tied for the third-most in franchise history.

- Since Dec. 22, 2018, the Panthers have gone 21-2-1 against Detroit.

- Brandon Montour has recorded multiple points in three of his last four games.

- Matthew Tkachuk has earned at least one point in 23 of his last 26 games.

- Sergei Bobrovsky secured the ninth 30-win season of his career.

- Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart each blocked three shots.

- Florida led 78-47 in shot attempts, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT’S NEXT?

After beginning their trip with a big win in the Motor City, the Panthers should expect a similar playoff-like atmosphere when they kick off a back-to-back with a battle against the New York Rangers (40-17-3) at Madison Square Garden on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.