SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers matched a franchise record by allowing five power-play goals in a 6-4 loss to the Minnesota Wild at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday.
For the second straight game, both calls – and missed calls – took center stage.
Sitting at 27-14-4, the Panthers have gone 0-2-2 following their nine-game win streak.
“The things that we’re real good at, we weren’t," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "It starts with faceoffs and mostly clears after that. We were behind it -- all of them. The first goal was a nice play, but after that they were just pucks to the net. We’ve got to clear net-front and we’ve got to get some blocks. There’s a whole lot of games this year, but it wasn't very good tonight.”
The Wild broke the ice in the first period when Kirill Kaprizov re-directed a centering feed from Matt Boldy past Sergei Bobrovsky on the power play to make it 1-0 at 2:49.
Taking offense to an earlier incident in which contact was made with Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury behind the net, Minnesota forward Brandon Duhaime dropped the gloves with Will Lockwood, who headed down the tunnel after absorbing a big blow in the brawl and did not return. An update on Lockwood's status is expected to come following Sunday's practice.
Later in the period, another fight broke out between Jonah Gadjovich and Wild forward Marcus Foligno, who drew the ire of the Panthers after boarding Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Despite trailing on the scoreboard, Florida led 9-4 in shots on goal after 20 minutes.
Moments after a missed elbow to the head on Anton Lundell, the Panthers finally got some good karma when Aaron Ekblad slid down into the right circle and ripped a shot past Fleury to even the score and make it 1-1 just 35 seconds into the second period.
Putting the Wild back on top, Ryan Hartman blasted home a one-timer from beyond the left circle on the power play to make it 2-1 at 3:22. Netting their third goal on the man advantage, Joel Eriksson Ek tipped in a shot from Brock Faber to make it 3-1 at 7:36.
At 10:32, Mats Zuccarello added another power-play goal to make it 4-1.
Entering tonight’s tilt, Florida has been sitting at an outstanding 89.5% on the PK since Dec. 23.
“We took a lot of penalties, and that’s tough,” Ekblad said. “To get behind in a game like that against a good team, it’s never easy. Our PK has been a strong suit for us like you said, but they did a good job tonight picking us apart.”
Following Zuccarello’s goal, Anthony Stolarz relieved Bobrovsky in Florida’s net. Also making a change, the Wild swapped Fleury for Filip Gustavsson.
Cutting the deficit in half before the second intermission, Eetu Luostarinen took advantage of some chaos around Minnesota’s crease and lifted a loose puck into the twine to make it 4-2 at 18:27.
Finding the back of the net for a fifth time on the power play, the Wild pushed its lead to 5-2 just 41 seconds into the third period when Kaprizov connected on a one-timer. A few moments earlier, Stolarz, who finished with nine saves on 10 shots against in relief, had flashed leather to rob Kaprizov from right on the doorstep.
After Lundell backhanded in a rebound to cut the deficit to 5-3 at 8:05, Gustav Forsling fired a shot that went off Zuccarello’s stick and over Gustavsson’s blocker to make it 5-4 on the very next shift at 8:22.
“I feel great,” said Lundell, who has filled in for injured captain Aleksander Barkov on the top line in each of the last two games. “It’s hard at times. I had a long time I wasn’t scoring from anywhere. I hit the post, post-out. Sometimes it comes. You just have to stay on it and keep working. That’s all I can do, keep working every day. Now, it’s been going in.”
With momentum now firmly on their side and the Wild on its heels, the Panthers continued to pepper Minnesota’s net with pucks, but couldn’t find the game-tying goal. Missing out on a chance to go on a late power play, officials missed a pretty blatant elbow to the head of Kevin Stenlund in the offensive zone.
After that, fans showed their displeasure.
With 12 seconds left, Hartman cashed in on the empty net to put Minnesota up 6-4.
Enduring their first patch of adversity in a while, the Cats plan to come back even stronger next game.
“Resilience is part of this organization, this culture here” Ekblad said. “We tried to come back, but fell short today.”
THEY SAID IT
“Losing four in a row is tough. Holding ourselves accountable to a hard, tough, strong, resilient, responsible game is important. It’s something we’re going to have to get back to.” – Aaron Ekblad
“I feel like we gave everything in the third, but it wasn’t enough. We gave them too much at the start. Today it was too hard to come back.” – Anton Lundell
“Lundell was good, really pumping tonight. Luostarinen, I kind of liked that line. I liked Bennett’s hit because it’s the way that line plays well and when they’re at their best. I liked Aaron Ekblad getting up the ice.” – Paul Maurice
CATS STATS
- Matthew Tkachuk recorded his 100th career assist as a Panther.
- With a goal and three assists, Aaron Ekblad recorded his third career four-point game.
- The Panthers led 24-8 in shots on goal at 5-on-5.
- Anton Lundell went 9-for-10 (90%) in the faceoff circle.
- Gustav Forsling blocked a team-high two shots on goal.
- Anthony Stolarz made four high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
- Sam Reinhart’s franchise-record goal streak ended at eight games.
WHAT’S NEXT?
After five straight games at home, the Panthers will pack their bags for a one-game road trip to Nashville to face the Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
