Ending their homestand on a high note before hitting the road for their four-game trek, Matthew Tkachuk scored a hat trick, Eric Staal netted a pair of goals and Spencer Knight made 33 saves to lead the Panthers to a 5-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes at FLA Live Arena on Tuesday.
Tied 3-3 in the second period, Staal and Tkachuk each scored within a span of 3:28 to make it 5-3 and give the Panthers a cushion heading into the second intermission. Shutting the door in the third period, Knight stopped all 14 shots he faced over the final 20 minutes of regulation.
With the win, Florida improved to 17-18-4.
"I thought we played pretty good hockey," Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas said. "I think we're building toward the game we want to play throughout the rest of the season. This is a very big month for us. We knew it was important to get the win before going on the road."
Finishing with four points (three goals, one assist) against the Coyotes, Tkachuk leads the Panthers in goals (20), assists (27) and points (47). On Thursday, the 25-year-old winger was named to the 2023 NHL All-Star Game, which will be held in South Florida on Feb. 3 and 4.
"Being able to show off South Florida to players throughout the league is probably going to be my favorite part," Tkachuk said of the upcoming NHL All-Star Game. "For the other players to see where I live and play, it's going to be awesome sharing it with so many incredible players. I'm the hometown guy. I feel very, very lucky to be able to represent my team and my city."
Back between the pipes after backing up Knight against Arizona, Sergei Bobrovsky will man the crease in Detroit. Owning an 8-12-1 record with a .894 save percentage this season, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has posted a .914 save percentage in his last seven appearances.
Falling to 16-13-7 after losing eight of their last 11 games, the Red Wings enter tonight's matchup looking to rebound from a 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday.
Following a scoreless first period, the Red Wings surrendered two goals to the Devils in the second period and then three more in the third period before Lucas Raymond netted the lone goal for Detroit while on the power play to spoil Vitek Vanecek's shutout with two minutes left.
Dylan Larkin leads the Red Wings in goals (13), assists (20) and points (33). Dominik Kubalik and David Perron are tied for second in goals with 12 apiece, while Raymond is third with 10. Fourth in scoring, Filip Hronek has tallied 26 points (seven goals, 19 assists) and is a team-high +13.
Ville Husso and Magnus Hellberg have both seen time in net for Detroit as of late. Husso, who gave up five goals on 27 shots against New Jersey in his last outing, owns a 12-7-5 record with a .904 save percentage, while Hellberg has gone 2-2-0 with a .897 save percentage.
Facing off for the second time this season, the Panthers cruised to a 5-1 win over the Red Wings in Sunrise on Dec. 8. Five different players lit the lamp for Florida, while Bobrovsky turned aside 19 of 20 shots. Named first star of the game, Tkachuk produced a goal and an assist.
"Obviously we'd like to be in a better position than where we are standings-wise right now," Tkachuk said. "We're not even at the halfway mark yet, but with saying that, we don't have a lot of room to give away games like we did with some earlier in the year."
