Goalie James Reimer delivered a fourth straight solid start in what was a challenging outing for the Detroit Red WIngs.
They didn’t have much jump when Thursday’s game began, but Reimer withstood an early barrage from the Florida Panthers. Special teams got a workout at Little Caesars Arena, but a cold power play left the Wings on the losing side of a 2-0 final.
The Panthers were able to sneak in a goal in the final minute of the second period, leaving the Wings to enter the third period with a deficit for a fifth consecutive game. They faced a fifth penalty kill with 7:04 to play when Dylan Larkin was called for interference, but Gustav Forsling took a penalty that overlapped for 31 seconds, putting the Wings on their fifth power play of the night. Reimer was pulled with 1:40 to play; the Panthers capitalized with an empty net goal by Anton Lundell.
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The victory was the Panthers’ 10th straight against the Red Wings, with Detroit’s last win over Florida coming in February 2021. The Wings (6-4-1) next play Saturday against the Boston Bruins at LCA.
Reimer to the rescue
Reimer bailed out his teammates over the first 10 minutes, as the Panthers repeatedly established control in Detroit’s zone. An early penalty by Klim Kostin forced Reimer to make a couple of saves on slapshots by Aleksander Barkov and a tip-in attempt by Matthew Thachuk. Six minutes in, shots favored the Panthers, 9-0. It was Daniel Sprong who finally directed a shot at Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, near the midpoint of the period. The Wings went on a power play at 16:38 and were able to build a bit of momentum to end the period on a better note than they began it.
Sprong’s second
Daniel Sprong drew a slashing call 2:52 into the second period to put his team on a power play, but it was nullified 26 seconds in when Alex DeBrincat was whistled for hooking. Sprong drew another penalty, this time crosschecking, at 8:21, and the Wings squeezed almost 20 seconds out of the delayed call. Shayne Gostisbehere and David Perron tested Bobrovsky down low, again building some momentum.
Nothing but net
The second period was an extended exercise in special teams, with a total of six penalties, three per side. On the Wings’ third one, Moritz Seider and Gostisbehere traded passes up top until Seider’s third pass went off Gostisbehere skate and slid out of the zone. Of the 19 shots the Panthers had after two periods, 11 were on power plays; the ratio was 5-for-14 for the Wings. Nonetheless, it was at even strength that there was finally a goal, with 51.1 seconds left in the second period. Steve Lorentz fired a shot from the left circle that hit Reimer’s glove, bounced up, hit the cross bar, and landed in the net.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings shut out by Florida Panthers, 2-0
