RECAP: Wild 2, Panthers 0
Panthers pile up scoring chances in season-opening loss to Wild
© David Berding/Getty Images
In defeat, Florida led 43-18 in scoring chances.
“I liked our game,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “The result is always the most important thing. We didn’t win a hockey game, but I’m not disappointed."
Even though it was the Panthers that came out flying, the Wild managed to break the ice when Brock Faber, suiting up in just his third-career NHL game, threaded a shot from the blue line through some heavy traffic and past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 1-0 at 7:54 of the first period.
On the play, Faber recorded both his first point and first goal in the NHL.
Despite trailing on the scoreboard heading into the first intermission, the Panthers likely deserved some better results. After 20 minutes, they led 27-9 in shot attempts, 11-5 in scoring chances and controlled 85% of all expected goals, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
Making their NHL debuts, both Mackie Samoskevich and Uvis Balinskis suited up for Florida.
Looking very comfortable, Samoskevich fired off two shots on goal in 14:36 of ice time.
“I thought it took about 10 minutes for him to get into the game, which is shorter than I thought it would take,” Maurice said of the 20-year-old former first-round pick. “He’s a shooter. He gets into those holes, put one off the bar. He puts the puck where he wants to. A good debut for him.”
Earning an abbreviated 4-on-3 power play in the second period, the Wild doubled its lead when a deflected pass from Mats Zuccarello ended up right in front of the net where Joel Eriksson Ek pounced on the puck and sent it past a sprawled-out Bobrovsky to make it 2-0 at 12:56.
“Just a bit of a bad break,” Maurice said.
Less than three minutes later, the Wild briefly appeared to make it 3-0 when Marco Rossi fired a puck off Bobrovsky’s pads and into the cage. But after the Panthers challenged for offside, the goal came off the board after a quick review by the officials. Score one for the video team.
In the third period, the Panthers fired off 15 shots on goal but just couldn’t sneak one past Filip Gustavsson. Finishing with 41 saves, the Wild’s goaltender looked especially formidable late in regulation when he made several huge stops to keep the Panthers from spoiling his shutout bid.
Losing 2-0, the Panthers had 3.68 expected goals, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
“I thought we played a solid game,” said Bobrovsky, who also looked sharp between the pipes while stopping 19 of 21 shots. “We had lots of shots, lots of scoring chances. We played defensively really strong. It’s one of those nights where we didn’t get the points, but it’s a long season in front of us. We just reset, regroup, refocus and get ready for the next one.”
Despite a robust number of chances, Maurice wants to see more pucks on net in the future.
“I think some of our best chances never got to the net,” Maurice said. “They did a good a really good job blocking shots. There’s going to be some things. For me, the execution with the pucks and pucks to the net. We missed some nets. I think our shot attempts were in the 80’s. That’s a good defensive team. They play a hard structure. They blocked a bunch of shots, but it’s just always the basics. It’s traffic and timing. We’ve got to get the right traffic at the right time.”
THEY SAID IT
“I think his last game was in February. It’s been a while for him. His overall game – he’s an offensive guy and when you don’t score he’s going to want to get a few more of those pucks through – but his game was good. The 5-on-5 and the plays he broke up with his stick, we’re real happy with his performance.” – Maurice on Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s first game with the Panthers
“It’s more the picture in front of you – what’s going on, what kind of traffic, what’s going on in front of you. I have to react to what’s coming at me. I don’t have much control. It’s all those little pieces getting together. We’ll be fine.” – Bobrovsky on building chemistry with his new defensemen
“We wanted a win out of the first one, but I thought we came out pretty good. We knew it was going to be a tough one here tonight in their home rink, and I thought we came out pretty good. We had some good looks in the first and then I thought they came out a little better in the second and we were a little too pretty in the second. We got back to in the third and had some good looks on the power play. Their goalie stood on his head.” – Ekman-Larsson on tonight’s game
CATS STATS
- Matthew Tkachuk recorded a team-high 10 shots on goal.
- Ekman-Larsson led the team with 26:32 of ice time.
- The Panthers led 83-39 in shot attempts.
- Florida led 20-5 in shot attempts at 5-on-5 when Eetu Luostarinen was on the ice.
- Bobrovsky stopped two of the three high-danger shots he faced.
- The Panthers had 1.34 expected goals on the power play.
WHAT’S NEXT?
A matinee in Manitoba? Count us in!
Making their way across the border into Canada, the Panthers will continue their season-opening road trip with a battle against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Saturday.
Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
