After Frans Nielsen and Andreas Athanasiou failed to score, Nyquist beat Reimer with a shot between the legs in the second half of the third round of the shootout.
"To see that goal go in was real good," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We need the win. We need some of these close games. We were tied going into another third period, like we're going to be lots this year, and you've got to find a way to win those games."
Nyquist made it 2-2 at 10:46 of the second period when he split two Florida defensemen to backhand a rebound past Reimer.
Athanasiou, playing in his second game after signing a one-year contract Oct. 20, scored to give Detroit a 1-0 lead at 5:28 of the first period. He took a one-timer from the slot off a feed from Dylan Larkin after a turnover behind the Florida net.
Huberdeau tied the game 1-1 at 4:19 when he stood to the side of the net and redirected Dadonov's pass from inside the blue line. Dadonov made it 2-1 at 8:23 on the power play when he redirected Trocheck's hard pass in the slot from the point. The goal came 1:08 after Huberdeau had a goal overturned after Detroit successfully challenged that Barkov interfered with Howard.
"It was a hard-fought game by both teams," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "We knew Detroit was going to be desperate here, and we're desperate ourselves. I liked our game. I really did. I can't say too many negative things about it. We played hard. We created chances. We won the special teams and we had many chances. You have to give Howard some credit, and Reimer played well as well. One of those back-and-forth games."
