5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers Top Wild for 10th Straight Win at Home

SUNRISE, Fla.- The Panthers are turning their building into a fortress.
By taking care of business against the Wild with a 5-4 win on Saturday at FLA Live Area, they improved their flawless record at home this season to an outstanding 10-0-0, becoming just the fourth team in NHL history to win that many consecutive contests at home to start a campaign.
Improving to 13-2-3 overall, Florida currently has the most points in the entire NHL.

"We want to make this a really hard place to play," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said of the team's budding home-ice advantage. "We don't want to just be good at home, we want to be great. Tonight was just another step. This is a big homestand for us."
With the Panthers coming out hot and dictating play against the Wild in the first period, Owen Tippett opened the scoring when he gathered an incredibly impressive one-handed pass from Aaron Ekblad in the slot and lifted a backhand shot past Cam Talbot to make it 1-0 at 17:45.
After 20 minutes of action, Florida was leading Minnesota 15-5 in shots.
"I think it's just the atmosphere at the rink," Tippett said of the team's early jump "The guys build off that. When you have crowds like we do, it's easy to get energy and get up on the bench."
Doubling the lead in the second period, Frank Vatrano, opting to keep the puck himself on a 2-on-1 rush with Tippett, rifled a shot past Talbot and into the twine to make it 2-0 at 8:23. With an assist on the goal, Joe Thornton tied Paul Coffey for the 13th-most points in NHL history (1,531).
On the power play later in the period, the Wild finally got on the board when Joel Eriksson Ek re-directed a centering feed from Mats Zuccarello past Sergei Bobrovsky, who lost his stick before the score, from right on top of the blue paint to slice Florida's advantage down to 2-1 at 11:46.
Getting that goal back for the Panthers soon after, Vatrano found the back of the net once again when he pounced on a juicy rebound after a shot from Gustav Forsling to make it 3-1 at 14:50.
"They were huge for us, scoring those three goals," Brunette said of the team's third line of Tippett, Vatrano and Thornton. "We had some different looks, and they were able to finish. Really happy for that whole line. … Giving us three [goals] in 10 minutes is pretty impressive."
Helping the Panthers maintain that lead late in the middle frame, Bobrovsky brought fans to their feet and kept them there for more than 30 seconds when he made multiple highlight-reel saves in rapid succession. Almost blowing the roof off the building, the cheers grew louder and louder with each save until they finally peaked with an uproar after the sequence finally ended.
If you want to get your blood flowing, just take a look at the clip in the below tweet.

"Bob was great," Tippett said. "I think I was on the ice for some [of those saves]. You can hear it. When he makes a big save like that and the crowd is cheering, it just gets everyone fired up."
Just 1:55 into the third period, Minnesota started to make it a game when Kirill Kaprizov, the reigning Calder Trophy winner, beat Bobrovsky while on a partial breakaway to make it 3-2. But just 3:47 later, Carter Verhaeghe sent the Cats ahead 4-2 after a strong induvial effort at 5:42.
Pulling Talbot in favor of the extra attacker late in regulation, Marcus Foligno slipped a shot past Bobrovsky on the 6-on-5 advantage to make it 4-3 at 19:14. Scoring what would go on to hold up as the game-winner, Sam Bennett made it 5-3 when he cashed in on an empty net at 19:23.
Continuing to push but coming up just short, Ryan Hartman scored on a 6-on-5 to pull the Wild within one and make it 5-4 at 19:51, but the Panthers would lock it down and hold on from there.
Earning third-star honors, Bobrovsky finished with 35 saves, while Talbot gave up four goals on 36 shots for the Central Division-leading Wild, which fell to 11-6-0 on the season with the loss. With a chance to make it 11 straight wins at home, the Cats will host the Flyers on Wednesday.
"It was a group effort tonight," Vatrano said. "I think we played a really good hockey game. They're a really good team, but we were ready for the challenge. We'll have some time off here, reflect on that game and then move on."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's win in Sunrise…

1. THE EK-PASS

This pass from the first period gets more and more impressive with each viewing.
Impeded by a pair of defenders as he barreled toward the net, Ekblad, while falling to the ice, somehow managed to drop the puck back into the slot to Tippett. With Ekblad having cleared the lane, Tippett then skated in on Talbot all alone and buried a backhand shot to make it 1-0.

"It was awesome," Tippett said of the pass. "He made a great move."
Taking his game to another level in November, Tippett has now registered six points (two goals, four assists) in his last eight games. One of two helpers he dished out during the game, Ekblad has now earned a point in four straight games while upping his point total on the season to 15.

2. TWO FOR THE TANK

When "Frank the Tank" is on a roll, it's best to just get out of the way.
Providing plenty of goal support for the Panthers against the Wild, Vatrano found the back of the net not once, but twice tonight. Of those two scores, his snipe on Talbot while on a 2-on-1 rush in the second period was likely the best, especially since his smooth celly seemed to never end.

"When he gets to shooting the puck like he does and gets a little mojo going, he's obviously dangerous," Brunette said of Vatrano's scoring spree. "He's got a knack for scoring big goals."

Notching a team-high three points (two goals, one assist) against Minnesota, Vatrano has now lit the lamp four times over his last five games. Helping drive possession, the Panthers led 16-2 in shot attempts, 12-8 in shots on goal and 3-0 in goals when he was on the ice at 5-on-5 play.

3. THORNTON MAKES HISTORY

Thornton continues to climb the record books.
With an assist on Vatrano's first goal, the future Hall of Famer recorded the 1,531st point of his career, moving him into a tie with Paul Coffey for 13th place on the NHL's all-time scoring list. Next up on the list is Mark Recchi in 12th place with 1,533 points.
"I actually played with Coff back in the day," Thornton said. "What a compliment."
Joining the Panthers on a one-year contract during the offseason, Thornton, who has suited up in nearly 1,700 games in the NHL, has notched a goal and an assist in eight games this season. Vatrano said it was a special feeling to be a part of the veteran's historic point.
"To even be on the ice with a guy like that is an honor," Vatrano said. "To have him in the room every day, he brings life to it. He's a huge part of our success and a huge part of our team."
In addition to being a +3 against the Wild, Thornton also won four of his six faceoffs.

4. VERHAEGHE STAYS HOT

Hockey is a team sport, but this was an amazing individual effort.
Carrying a defender on his back as he cut through the left circle toward the net, Verhaeghe lifted a shot over Talbot's glove and into the top of the cage to push the lead to 4-2 in the third period.
The goal also helped the Panthers move up the record books as they became just the third team in NHL history to score at least four goals in 10 straight home games to start a season.

Extending his goal-scoring streak to three games, Verhaeghe has been racking up the points in impressive fashion recent weeks. Following a brief four-game point drought toward the tail end of October, he's now produced 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 10 games since then.
In 18 games this season, Verhaeghe has tallied 15 points (six goals, nine assists).

5. CALM LIKE A BOB

MacKenzie Weegar summed it up best.
"Wow!"
That's what the Panthers defenseman could be seen mouthing again and again after just one of the 35 saves that Bobrovsky made during a stellar showing against the Wild. Of those saves, 12 came against shots that were fired from high-danger areas on the ice, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

"He's been great all year," Vatrano. "He's been a huge part of our success, him and Knighter."
Making sure the Panthers earned at least one point in each of his starts this season, Bobrovsky, a two-time winner of the Vezina Trophy, now owns an 8-0-2 record with a .937 save percentage.
Especially solid early against Minnesota, he stopped 20 of 21 shots over the first two periods.
"He made some huge saves at important times for us," Brunette said of Bobrovsky.