Panthers defeat Wild, get 10th straight home win to start season

Frank Vatrano had two goals and an assist to help the Florida Panthers win their 10th straight home game to start the season, 5-4 against the Minnesota Wild at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday.

The Panthers tied for the second-longest such streak in NHL history. Florida can tie the NHL record of 11, set by the 1963-64 Chicago Blackhawks, when it hosts the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.
"We're trying to make [home] an imposing place," Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. "I think we're building off that and making this a really hard place to play. We just don't want to be good at home, we want to be great, and tonight was another step."
Aaron Ekblad had two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 35 saves for the Panthers (13-2-3), who have scored at least four goals in each home game this season, outscoring opponents 48-22.
"It was a group effort tonight," Vatrano said. "I think we played a really good hockey game. They're a really good team and we were ready for the challenge."

Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek each had a goal and an assist for the Wild (11-6-0), who have lost three of their past five games. Cam Talbot made 32 saves.
"Great hockey game," Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. "They're a great team. We're a great team, and it was a great hockey game. It was a fun game. We just came up a little short."
Owen Tippett gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 17:45 of the first period after Ekblad drove through two defenders and made a drop pass to Tippett between the circles.
The Panthers outshot the Wild 15-5 in the first period.

Vatrano made it 2-0 at 8:23 of the second period after he finished a 2-on-1 with Joe Thornton. Thornton got an assist to tie Paul Coffey for 13th on the NHL points list (1,531).
"To even be on the ice with a guy like that is just an honor," Vatrano said. "To have him in the room every day, he brings life to the room and he's a huge part of our success and huge part of our team."
Eriksson Ek cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal down low at 11:46.
Vatrano scored his second of the game on a rebound at 14:50 to make it 3-1.
Kaprizov scored on a breakaway to pull Minnesota within 3-2 at 1:55 of the third period.
"They're a good team," Wild forward Kevin Fiala said. "There's no secret. They play fast. It just didn't work out for us tonight, but I liked our effort in the end, but still we could be better in the start. I think they dominated us in the start in both the first and second, and we can't have that."

Carter Verhaeghe carried the puck along the left wall and cut to the middle to score on a snap shot and extend the lead to 4-2 at 5:42.
Jonathan Huberdeau scored for the Panthers at 9:34, but the call was overturned after a coach's challenge for offside by Minnesota.
With Talbot pulled for the extra attacker, Marcus Foligno put in a rebound to cut it to 4-3 with 46 seconds left.
Sam Bennett scored into an empty net with 37 seconds remaining to push the lead to 5-3, and Ryan Hartman cut it to 5-4 with nine seconds left and Talbot again pulled.
"We've scored a couple 6-on-5 goals, so I think that it's a good vibe," Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin said. "I think everyone thought we still had a good chance to score. It's tough to be down two goals, but we tried. We keep pushing. I don't know how long was left there, like 40 seconds or something, we just keep pushing until the end of the whistle there."
NOTES: Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon left midway through the first period with a lower-body injury. Evason said the Wild captain was being evaluated and will not play at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; BSSUN, BSN, BSWI, ESPN+, NHL LIVE). … The 1925-26 Ottawa Senators and the 2016-17 Montreal Canadiens each won 10 in a row at home to start the season. … Thornton has 426 goals and 1,105 assists. … Vatrano became the 120th player to score with an assist by Thornton, the most among active NHL players. Zdeno Chara of the New York Islanders is second with 114. … Bobrovsky (8-0-2) became the second goalie in Florida history with a 10-game point streak, joining Roberto Luongo (9-0-1 in 2015-16). … Huberdeau had an assist, five shots on goal, five takeaways and two blocked shots. … Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas had an assist and a game-high nine hits.