Detroit Red Wings edge Florida Panthers in shootout 2-1 -NHL Update
Florida thought they had the match secured entering the final period with a one point lead but Detroit came back by levelling the contest and taking the win in a shootout decider as Red Wings edged Panthers, 2-1, Sunday night, April 1, 2012, at the sold-out
Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
Panthers have had to work hard for each and every two point win they got this season as they stand at number three in the Eastern Conference, a huge improvement from last year. Losing here and there out of regulation is the least of their concerns at the
moment as long as they do not allow an easy win to the other team.
"Nothing's been given to us this year, and that's the fun part of it," Panthers coach, Kevin Dineen, said. "This is what we've been playing for -- to be a big part of the conversation as we move down the stretch."
27-year-old left winger for Florida, Tomas Fleischmann, set a new career high as he potted his 26th goal of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season to kick off the match.
Kris Versteeg fed Fleischmann the puck from Detroit goalie, Jimmy Howard’s right side as the forward fired it off through the net minder with less than three minutes left to go in round-one.
"I think Florida is a good team. We knew it was going to be tight, not a whole lot of room out there," Red Wings coach, Mike Babcock, said. "They did a good job through the neutral zone and I thought they were tenacious."
It was scoreless for the next period and the first five minutes of round-three before Jiri Hudler added the equaliser for his 25th of the year. Eight seconds later, Detroit lost Kyle Quincey and Jiri Hudler after the former was awarded a 10-minute
game misconduct and five-minute major for elbowing, but Florida failed to capitalise on the ample power play opportunity.
Pavel Datsyuk scored the first during the shootout followed by a successful attempt by Wojtek Wolski. Jiri Hudler made the deciding shot as Mikael Samuelsson and Kris Versteeg capitalise on Florida’s remaining two shots as Detroit took the two points.
Detroit Red Wings ended their two-game losing streak and now have the next on the road against St. Louis Blues on Wednesday. Florida Panthers will be hosting Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.