The Florida Panthers are circling inexorably. On Sunday they won 6-1 at the Detroit Red Wings and celebrated their tenth win in a row. The basis for the triumph in the Little Caesars Arena was a strong middle third, in which the guests from Sunrise scored four goals and thus pulled the tooth on the home side, who initially defended bravely.
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“I didn’t realize at first that we had already reached ten,” said Panthers coach Andrew Brunette after the game about the winning streak. “All I know is that I’ve really liked the way we’ve played the last three or four games. We’re at our best every night and when we do that it’s hard to beat us.”
After a largely balanced first third, the Panthers set the course for victory with a determined intermediate sprint in the second half. With Anthony Duclair, Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell and Maxim Mamin four different players put themselves on the scorer list.
Video: FLA@DET: Reinhart pushes the puck into the goal
In the last round, Lundell increased it to 5:0 with a shorthander and thus made his double pack perfect. Afterwards succeeded Pius Suter at least the consolation goal for the Red Wings. It was his 14th goal of the season, giving him the same haul with six games left as he did last year at the end of his rookie season. Gustav Forsling made the final score perfect with his third goal in two games.
Video: FLA@DET: Suter puts Red Wings on the scoreboard
The encounter was also a lot of fun for Florida’s goalkeeper Spencer Knight, who couldn’t complain about a lack of work at the back and was able to enjoy watching his teammates score goals at the front. “It’s just fun when the guys play like they do today, but I try not to think too much about how many times they’ve scored as I always have to focus on the next shot,” he said. Knight did an excellent job of staying focused in Detroit. He rendered 33 of the Red Wings’ 34 shots harmless. In the end, he was less than eight minutes short of his second shutout of the season.
Double goal scorer Lundell had particular reason to be happy. The Panthers’ first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft (12th overall) underlined his great talent with his two goals. Although the rookie attacker could only play 60 out of a possible 75 games due to an injury, he has 43 points (18 goals, 25 assists) registered. He’s now just seven points shy of catching Jesse Belanger, the highest scoring rookie in Panthers franchise history.
“It’s great to play in this team. We have a lot of confidence at the moment. All four lines are capable of scoring goals. It’s not easy to win in this league, but when we perform like we did last time, we have we always have a chance of winning,” said Lundell.
Florida is not only undefeated in the ten appearances since March 29, but has also set a new away record with the rout in Detroit. The Panthers have now scored 50 points on foreign soil this season. Her old record from the 2015/16 season was 48 points.
“We’ve made a step forward. Especially in the second half of the season we’re much more determined away from home,” stressed Brunette. The record value is unmistakable proof of this. Anyone who wants to win the Stanley Cup must also be able to win away from home. “It’s wonderful for me to see this team play together every day. I’m not sure when we’ll have such a special group again,” said the coach in recognition of his men.
The Panthers comfortably lead the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference with 114 points. Given the current situation, it should no longer be possible to take both top positions from them. Florida’s next game is on Tuesday with the New York Islanders (7:30 pm ET; NHL.tv; Wed. 1:30 pm CEST). Three home games will follow this week, against the Red Wings on Thursday, against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
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