Smith, Red Wings hand Panthers first regulation loss

SUNRISE, Fla. --Givani Smith had a goal and an assist, and the Detroit Red Wings ended the Florida Panthers' eight-game point streak with a 4-1 win at BB&T Center on Sunday.

Smith redirected a pass from Bobby Ryan after a turnover deep in the Panthers zone to make it 2-0 at 17:02 of the second period. Smith was recalled from the taxi squad Friday.
"The only thing I can really do is every time I'm in the lineup, just to work my hardest, work my best and hopefully it can pay off in the long run," Smith said. "From [the] last game in Tampa (a 3-1 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday), I thought we worked so hard and to work that hard and not win, and for tonight to work so hard and win, it's amazing."
Thomas Greiss made 36 saves for his first victory with the Red Wings (3-8-2), who won for the first time in nine games (1-6-2). Troy Stecher had two assists.
"I thought we competed extremely hard," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "I thought we were committed to trying to play the right way. We weren't perfect; we gave up chances and when we gave up chances, I thought Greiss was great.
"In this league, you've got to have really good goaltending to win and you got to play the right way, and I thought we did that."

Alex Wennberg scored his first goal with the Panthers (6-1-2); the season-opening point streak was the second-longest in their history behind a 12-game run (eight wins, four ties) in 1996-97. Chris Driedger made 35 saves.
Florida will host Detroit again Tuesday.
"They're a good team," Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. "They work hard. Greiss was really good tonight, but we had some chances. He stopped a lot of pucks.
"I think they deserved it a little bit more than us. I think we've got to forget about it, our first loss in regulation, and come back and be ready for the next one."
Marc Staal scored his first goal with the Red Wings at 2:58 of the second period on a backhand after he collected the puck in front of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Wennberg made it 2-1 at 2:09 of the third period when he tipped Anton Stralman's shot from the point.
Robby Fabbri gave Detroit a 3-1 lead at 9:11 when he scored on the rebound of Smith's shot from the slot. The goal came less than a minute after Greiss made a save against Owen Tippett on an odd-man rush with Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov.
"We had a 3-on-1 with all the right guys on the ice with it, and the next thing you know it's 3-1 instead of 2-2," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "That was a turning point for us in the game. Driedger gave us a chance. Obviously, we didn't press enough there at the end."

Vladislav Namestnikov scored an empty-net goal at 17:18 for the 4-1 final.
It was Detroit's first victory since a 3-2 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 19.
"You need results to build confidence," Blashill said. "I talk about process lots, but I talked about this today, ultimately you need results to build confidence. Getting the result today is huge, and I think we played the type of game we've got to play to be successful. We competed really, really hard and we defended and checked well. Those are the things we're going to have to do to be successful, and I also think we got to their net.
"We scored goals because we were hard at their net. Ultimately, all the goals are scored around the net, and we did a good job there and then you get the timely goaltending."
NOTES: Smith completed the Gordie Howe Hat Trick (goal, assist, fighting major) when he fought Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad at 12:38 of the third period. … Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha was a healthy scratch. He has scored seven points (four goals, three assists) in 12 games and signed a four-year contract Nov. 3, 2020. … Detroit forward Luke Glendening sustained an upper-body injury in the first period on a hit by Florida defenseman Radko Gudas. Blashill said Glendening "seemed like he was in a good spot" after the game and expects to have another update Tuesday morning. … It was the first time the Panthers trailed after the second period this season.