#LGRW Final: Red Wings defeat Panthers in series opener, 4-1

DETROIT -- In perhaps their most complete game of the season, the Detroit Red Wings turned in a sound defensive effort and received timely goals in the second and third periods, handing the Florida Panthers their first regulation loss of the season, 4-1, at the BB&T Center Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Red Wings snapped their eight-game winless streak and improved to 3-8-2 on the season. Florida (6-1-2) failed to record a point for the first time in nine games. Detroit goalie Thomas Greiss made 36 saves on 37 shots, securing his first victory with the Red Wings.
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill was happy with the result, but was even more pleased with his team's disposition and approach to the game.
"We built on how we played against Tampa (on Friday). I thought we competed extremely hard; I thought we were committed to trying to play the right way," Blashill said. "We weren't perfect; we gave up chances. I thought Greiss was great. Ultimately in this league, you've got to have really good goaltending to win, and you've got to play the right way. I thought we did that."

It was an evenly matched opening 20:00, with each team taking 12 shots and collecting a flurry of scoring chances. Detroit nearly broke the scoreless tie in the final minute when defenseman Jon Merrill fired a shot from the point. But it deflected off a Florida player, and blindly ended up below the pads of Panthers' goalie Chris Driedger.
Detroit opened the game's scoring just 2:58 into the second period, with defenseman Marc Staal scoring his first goal with the Red Wings. Troy Stecher threw the puck toward the goal from the blue line, which bounced onto Staal's stick in front of the goal. Staal switched directions and backhanded his shot past Driedger. Stecher and Sam Gagner teamed up for the assist.

The Red Wings extended their lead to 2-0 at 17:02 of the second period after winger Givani Smith scored his first goal of the season and the eventual game-winner. The goal was setup by Bobby Ryan's stingy defending behind Florida's goal. With the Panthers attempting to clear the puck, Ryan swiped it from defenseman Keith Yandle and flipped the puck to an attacking Smith, who found the back of the net. It marked the Red Wings' 16th even strength goal of the season.
"It feels good,"Smith said about his growing confidence. "Playing against Stamkos, Barkoff and especially being on a line with Robby (Fabbri), Bobby (Ryan), Dylan (Larkin) and Z (Filip Zadina), it's hard to not play with confidence when you look along the side of you and you've got superstars, just great, hard-working guys."
Florida quickly trimmed its deficit in half (2-1) with 17:51 remaining in the third period. Anton Stralman fired a shot from the blue line that was tipped out of mid-air on a backhand by Alex Wennberg, who recorded his first goal in a Panthers sweater.
Just under nine minutes later (at 9:11), Stecher and Smith set up a goal that pushed the Red Wings' lead back to two goals, 3-1. Stecher crossed the puck into an attacking Smith, who took a shot that was rebounded into the back of the net by Robby Fabbri. It marked Stecher and Smith's first multi-point games of the season, and Fabbri's first goal since Jan. 16 against Carolina prior to being sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols.

Center Vladislav Namestnikov added an unassisted empty-netter with 2:42 remaining--his second goal in three days--to complete the game's scoring.
"Losing's never fun. We made some steps last game against Tampa that we carried over into tonight, you know, right off the hop," Fabbri said. "I think the biggest thing was we kept it going for 60 minutes. That's the biggest thing, that's how we're going to win games and beat teams. To outwork them, outwill them and we proved that tonight."
The Red Wings and Panthers will wrap up their two-game series on Tuesday night from the BB&T Center. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. (FOX Sports Detroit Plus, 97.1 The Ticket).