Panthers score six, stifle Red Wings

SUNRISE, Fla. --Josh Brown and Dryden Hunt each scored his first NHL goal for the Florida Panthers in a 6-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at BB&T Center on Sunday.

"Sometimes it just happens like that," Hunt said. "It's kind of ironic that we both get it in the same game. He's such a good friend of mine. To see him get it and follow it up with mine was pretty special."
Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau each had a goal and an assist, and Aaron Ekblad and MacKenzie Weegar each had two assists for the Panthers (30-27-12), who have won two in a row after losing six straight (0-2-4) and are seven points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
WATCH: [All Red Wings vs. Panthers highlights]
"[Huberdeau and I] just try to hold each accountable and try to bring the best out of each other," Barkov said. "We're playing with a really good player, too, [Evgenii] Dadonov. As a line, we try to push each other more and more every shift and try to control the game and play with the puck. We're having fun, so we'll just try to continue."
Sam Montembeault made 19 saves for his second consecutive victory.
Thomas Vanek scored, and Jimmy Howard made 37 saves for the Red Wings (24-35-10), who are 1-7-3 in their past 11 games and were outshot by Florida 43-20.
"They just had Grade A chance after Grade A chance," Vanek said. "Pretty fun night for them, pretty awful for us."
Brown, playing in his 24th NHL game, gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 6:42 of the first period on a wrist shot from the high slot off a pass from Troy Brouwer.
"It was incredible," said Brown, whose goal was his first point in the NHL. "I definitely have more of a defensive mind-set. I didn't know if it was going to happen this season or whatever, but just thrilled and relieved that I got it out of the way."
Jamie McGinn scored a power-play goal to make it 2-0 at 9:22, getting the rebound of Ekblad's initial shot at the top of the crease.

Frank Vatrano extended the lead to 3-0 at 8:26 of the second period, redirecting Ekblad's point shot just inside the left post. It was his first goal in 12 games.
Vanek cut it to 3-1 at 12:24 with a power-play goal, scoring on a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Frans Nielsen.
"The feeling on the bench was we had an effort, but we just didn't execute at all," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We need everybody playing their A game right now, and we didn't tonight."
Huberdeau made it 4-1 at 1:26 of the third period on a one-timer into an open net off a Dadonov pass, and Hunt, playing in his 33rd NHL game, made it 5-1 at 2:51 when he tapped in Riley Sheahan's cross-crease pass.

Barkov, who was playing in his 400th NHL game, pushed the lead to 6-1 at 7:44 on a shot short side from the right circle.
Barkov, who has scored 30 goals for the first time in the NHL, joined Mike Hoffman (31 goals) in becoming the second Panthers teammates to score at least 30 goals in a season. Olli Jokinen and Nathan Horton also did it in 2006-07.
"Of course, it's a nice milestone again for me," Barkov said. "That means I'm playing with really good players who can pass the puck. I just try to find the open spot and try to work with my shot, too, and this time, it was a clean shot and not off my back or something."

They said it

"Every time you get scored on, it's like a punch in the gut. Well, if you allow yourself to get scored on a bunch, that's a lot of punches. It's hard to keep getting back up. We have to make sure we do a better job of keeping it out of our net." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill
"I think our legs were good early and you could tell Detroit had played the night before. We were just ready to play. Our execution was on early and there weren't any holes in our game for sure." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner

Need to know

Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin missed his third straight game with a neck injury. Blashill said he would get a second opinion Monday. … Florida, which defeated the Minnesota Wild 6-2 on Friday, scored at least six goals in consecutive games for the fifth time in its history and first since Feb. 11-15, 2017. … It was the third time in Panthers history two players each scored his first NHL goal. Janis Sprukts and Kamil Kreps did it on April 6, 2007, and Stephen Weiss and Eric Beaudoin did it on April 3, 2002. … Barkov has 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in his past 13 games. … Huberdeau has 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in his past 13 games.

What's next

Red Wings:At the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, FS-D, NHL.TV)
Panthers:At the San Jose Sharks on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, FS-F, NHL.TV)