RECAP: Panthers 4, Stars 2 (Global Series)

TAMPERE – Kiitos, Finland.

Heading back to North America with four points in tow, the Florida Panthers completed a two-game sweep of the 2024 Global Series with a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars at Nokia Arena on Saturday.

Extending their overall winning streak to five games, Florida improves to 9-3-1 in the standings.

“A completely different style of hockey from last night,” said head coach Paul Maurice, who picked up his fifth career win in games played outside North America. "I thought we recovered well after the second [period]. It just builds faith, the constant reinforcing you're always trying to do. Being able to play a different style of game is critically important.”

A perfect end to the trip, all four Finnish players on the Panthers – Aleksander Barkov, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola – tallied at least one point in the Global Series.

“That’s a lot of Finns on the scoresheet, love to see it,” Luostarinen said with a smile. “I think it tells everybody that Finnish-born players are ready to play and give their best.”

Following the win, the President of Finland visited Florida’s locker room.

“We usually see him when we win, so that’s a good thing,” said Barkov, referencing their previous meeting with the Stanley Cup over the summer. “Big, big honor. Obviously, he’s President of my country and where I was born and where I grew up. It’s always an honor to be around him. We all know he loves hockey more than anything. It was a big honor.”

Breaking the ice for the second straight game – although not in record-setting fashion this time around – Evan Rodrigues stayed hot and opened the scoring for the Panthers when he tipped in a shot from Mikkola to make it 1-0 at 14:45 of the first period.

While the first game of the Global Series came and went without too much in terms of physicality, the action heated up later in the first period when Nate Schmidt dropped the gloves with Mason Marchment after being the victim of a dangerous boarding penalty.

In the second period, the Panthers doubled their lead when Matthew Tkachuk set up in the slot on the power play and tipped in a shot from Uvis Balinskis to make it 2-0 at 8:47.

But within a span of less than a minute, the Stars erased their deficit.

After Evgenii Dadonov got Dallas on the board with a power-play goal at 11:22, Matt Duchene backhanded in a loose puck from the right side of the net to make it 2-2 at 11:56.

Putting the Panthers back on top early in the third period, A.J. Greer pounced on the puck after a key faceoff win by Tomas Nosek in the offensive zone and immediately fired a rocket of a shot right over Casey DeSmith’s blocker and into the top of the cage to make it 3-2 at 2:32.

Inked to a two-year contract this past summer, the goal was Greer’s first as a Panther.

“It was a tight game,” Greer said. “We went up 2-0 and then got a pushback from a pretty good team. In those moments, you need to collectively come around together, dig deep and work for each other. We came back after the second period and had a mindset of stick to your game, stick to the things you do and play as if it’s 0-0, which it kinda was.”

As for his game-winning goal, Greer said Nosek mapped out the entire sequence.

“Nos is a great faceoff guy,” Greer said of his former linemate in Boston. “He told me right before he was going to tie the guy up and to come pick it up. I caught a step, took it to the middle and went short side. As a fourth line, it’s always rewarding to get a goal, especially a game-winning goal. It was very special to get it in Finland.”

Rewarded for a great defensive play that shut down a push from Dallas a few minutes earlier, Reinhart locked in the win for the Panthers when he out-muscled a defender and fired a long shot into the empty net to make it 4-2 with 56.9 seconds left in regulation.

Steady between the pipes all game, Spencer Knight finished with 23 saves.

Overall, it was a trip the Panthers won’t soon forget.

“We spent a good week here with the team,” Barkov said. “We had good chemistry before, but now it feels like spending so much time together and doing different activities like going to saunas, eating Finnish food together, that obviously makes your chemistry better. The cherry on top was these two really hard games that we played against Dallas.”

THEY SAID IT

"Obviously I like the way things went in the games. This whole trip was a special, special experience. We're happy to get the wins and have a good night." – Eetu Luostarinen

"I was one of those kids a long time ago [at the Global Series]. Right now, I'm playing in front of them. I was asking for sticks, for anything, and now they're asking for sticks from me. I'm fortunate to be able to see both sides." – Aleksander Barkov

“I think the biggest thing is just playing in front of the friends and family and all the Finnish fans. Don’t care too much about points, but if you get those, I’ll take it.” – Niko Mikkola

CATS STATS

- Sam Reinhart reached the 20-point mark in 13 games, setting a new franchise record.

- Sam Bennett won 66.7% of his faceoffs.

- Jesper Boqvist led the Panthers in blocks (3) and hits (4).

- Spencer Knight made six high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

- The Panthers blocked 16 shots as a team.

- The Panthers have scored a total of 20 goals in games outside North America.

WHAT’S NEXT?

It’s finally time to head back to South Florida.

After taking a few days to rest and recharge, the Panthers will return to action with a game against the Nashville Predators at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.