5 TAKEAWAYS: Lundell scores twice to lead Panthers to win over Red Wings

SUNRISE, Fla. - In a battle of top rookies Anton Lundell shined brightest as he scored two goals to lead the Panthers to a 6-2 win over the Red Wings at FLA Live Arena on Saturday.
For Detroit, the rookie duo of Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider combined for zero points.

"Nothing really surprises me about the kid anymore," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said of Lundell, who leads all NHL rookies with a +30 rating. "He was excellent all game. His line was really good. You almost expect it out of him. That's the thing with him."
But did facing two fellow contenders for the Calder Trophy give Lundell any extra boost?
"Yeah, maybe a little bit," the 20-year-old forward said. "[Detroit] has a good team, a very young team. We knew that it was going to be a tight game, a very tough game, and we needed to be at our best in order to win today. Yeah, for sure. It's been feeling good for me and my line lately."
Lighting the lamp for the second straight game, Mason Marchment opened the scoring for the Panthers when he followed up on a shot from MacKenzie Weegar and sent the rebound right past Thomas Greiss to make it a 1-0 game just 4:10 after the puck dropped in the first period.
Answering with a goal of their own soon after, Robby Fabbri, who had carved out some real estate in the slot, tied the game when he deftly tipped a point shot from Danny Dekeyser past Sergei Bobrovsky and into the cage to quickly even things up and make it a 1-1 game at 7:16.
Using the power play to pull away, Anthony Duclair and Anton Lundell then each scored with the man advantage at 11:00 and 18:02, respectively, to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes.
"It was a huge first period," Lundell said of the start. "We played really good right from the start. We earned our power plays and our chances. I think we got a step ahead from the beginning."
Carrying that momentum into the second period, Sam Bennett padded the lead further when he took a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau, who made a no-look dish from the half wall look easy, deked his way through the slot and then beat Greiss to give the Panthers a 4-1 cushion at 7:54.
Not long after that, Lucas Carlsson brought fans back to their feet when he finished off a coast-to-coast rush up the ice by wiring home a quick shot from the right circle to make it 5-1 at 11:01.
Following that goal, Greiss was replaced in net by Alex Nedeljkovic.
"That was awesome," Brunette said with a big smile. "It was a 'Carly Orr' kind of play. It was really good to see other guys chip in. It was a beautiful goal. I was really happy for him."
Capping off another three-goal period for the Panthers with his second goal of the game, Lundell one-timed a nice pass from Frank Vatrano into the cage to make it 6-1 at 16:13.
While Tyler Bertuzzi managed to add one more goal for Detroit at 14:46 of the third period to make it 6-2, the Panthers held on easily to win their second straight game to improve to 37-13-5 and once again overtake the cross-state rival Lightning for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Between the pipes, Nedeljkovic stopped 15 of 16 shots in relief of Greiss, while Bobrovsky stopped 22 of the 24 shots he saw to improve his personal record to an outstanding 28-6-3.
"This group realizes where they want to be and where they want to go," Brunette said of Florida's continued success. "It's not too hard to motivate them. They want to be great."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's win in Sunrise…

1. THE MONTH OF MARCH

It's no surprise this player has gotten off to a hot start this month.
Opening up the March portion of the schedule with goals in two straight games, Marchment broke the ice for the Panthers when he banged in a rebound to make it 1-0 in the first period.

Recently promoted to the top line, the 26-year-old forward has already registered career-highs numbers in goals (13), assists (18) and points (31) during his second season with the Panthers.
At 5-on-5, Florida led 13-2 in shot attempts when Marchment was on the ice tonight.

2. PLENTY OF POWER

This shot might've had some smoke coming off it.
On the man advantage in the first period, Duclair took a pass from Sam Reinhart and fired a blistering one-timer into the top of the cage to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead over the Red Wings.
Heating up, the Cats have scored two power play goals in each of their last three games.

"I think the other [power play] unit did a really good job last game of covering for us, and I think we both got on the board tonight," Reinhart said. "It's nice to have two units going that can kind of pick each other up. To have two units that are going, that's huge for the confidence as well."
As for Duclair, the speedy forward ranks second on the Panthers with 21 goals this season.

3. LUNDY NETS TWO

Lundell is so good you have to ask yourself if this move was intentional.
Looking for some help while patiently holding the puck along the goal line, the gifted rookie waited a bit before sending the puck into the crease where it ricocheted right off the stick of a defender and over Greiss' glove to up Florida's lead to 3-1 heading into the first intermission.

Not done there, he then scored again in the second period for his third multi-goal game.

"Every game we get some chances," Lundell said. "It's all about if we can use those chances to score goals. For our line, we just wanted to skate hard and have a good forecheck."
In the hunt for the Calder Trophy, Lundell ranks fifth among NHL rookies in points (38) and goals (14), while also sitting first in plus/minus (+30), takeaways (51) and faceoff wins (290). Adding to his offense, he also went 6-for-9 (66.7%) in the dot against Detroit.
"He seems to put himself in the right areas," Reinhart said of the rookie. "He's so smart offensively at finding those holes. We were able to get the puck to him, and he's a finisher."

4. HAPPY AT HOME

Mr. Home Ice was back it again tonight.
After Huberdeau somehow found him with a no-look pass into the slot, Bennett made a nifty move before sending the puck around Greiss to put the Cats on top 4-1 in the second period. With the goal, he now ranks third in the NHL in goals at home with 19.

Just one point away from matching his career-high with plenty of games left to play, Bennett has tallied 35 points (24 goals, 11 assists) in 45 games during his first full season with the Panthers, who picked him up in a trade with Calgary around 11 months ago at last year's trade deadline.

5. COAST TO COAST

How do you say "buttered toast" in Swedish?
Helping the Panthers pad their lead with a highlight-reel play, Carlsson went coast-to-cast before ripping the puck past Greiss from the left circle to make it 5-1 in the second period.

"They were giving me some space with the puck and through the neutral zone as well," Carlsson said of the play. "The D backed off a little bit, I got some space and I shot it."
One of several players to take off after arriving in South Florida, Carlsson, who came over in a trade with Chicago last season, has already set career-highs in goals (3), assists (6), points (9) and games played (32) while averaging 12:22 of ice time on the team's third defensive pairing.
"It's been a great year," Carlsson said. "[The Panthers] are giving me confidence every day. To play on this team, it's inspiring. That helps me."