by The Florida Panthers faced the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night at the Xcel Energy Center to complete their five-game road trip.
With a chance to end the trip over .500, the Panthers took control in the final five minutes of the second period, pulling away from the Wild and extending their lead in the third period, finishing convincingly with a 6-1 score to win in St. Paul.
Florida controlled the game in the opening minutes and it paid off with a score in under four minutes.
Jesper Boqvist delivered the puck from the bottom up below the goal back to Aaron Ekblad at the blue line.
After taking a few steps toward the high goal, the wrist shot went past the far post through traffic, giving the Cats an early 1-0 lead.
Minnesota appeared to have tied the game after Kirill Kaprizov redirected Declan Chisholm’s shot past Sergei Bobrovsky.
However, after the Panthers challenged for goaltender interference, it was confirmed that Marco Rossi ran through the goal crease and caught Bobrovsky, and the Panthers continued to lead 1-0 at 10:20 of the first period.
The Panthers found themselves in penalty trouble when they trailed 5-on-3 for 46 seconds with AJ Greer (attack) and Sam Reinhart (tripping) in the box.
Despite converting the first penalty, the Wild ended up on the scoresheet. Matthew Boldy’s shot pass didn’t quite hit Kaprizov, but Rossi picked it up at the right spot in the slot and used his backhand to tie the game at 16:11 of the first frame.
Just before the first period ended, Florida took advantage of the Wild’s inability to score on a stretch pass. The Panthers countered with a pass of their own from Ekblad to Mackie Samoskevich.
Samoskevich quickly came out of the rush to the right wing. His wrist shot wasted no time, beating Marc Andre-Fleury past the blocker, off the post and home as the Cats reclaimed their lead 18-14 in the first period.
In the second period, Florida began to control the game and after the top line pinned the Wild in their own zone for over a minute, they got to the net on a pass from Matthew Tkachuk to Aleksander Barkov.
Unfortunately for the Cats, the goal was taken off the board due to an offside call on the first substitution with 46 seconds left after the Wild challenged the game, leaving a one-goal lead at 13:01 of the second period.
It took less than three minutes for the top line to get the goal back, as they took control of the zone, Carter Verhaeghe’s centered shot bounced off Barkov’s skate and found Tkachuk on the doorstep. His shot beat Fleury by five and a scrum ensued after Mats Zuccarello slammed Tkachuk into his own goalie, leaving the top line unable to be denied a second time.
After AJ Greer received a penalty for a hit, the Panthers took advantage. Quick puck movement in the offensive zone and moving the puck from the bottom up saved Ekblad’s one-timer from the high slot.
Tkachuk, with some net-front presence, was successful on the rebound, giving the Cats a three-goal lead just before the second intermission.
The Panthers went into shutdown mode and gave the Wild very little space on their own side. Finally, they added another goal to a game that was already out of control, making it 5-1 at 11:10 of the third period.
Florida won a board battle in the near side corner where the Wild had everyone to Fleury’s left, Anton Lundell’s throw to Niko Mikkola in the high slot gave him a clear shooting path.
Mikkola managed to overcome the glove and it gave him goals in back-to-back games for the first time in his career and a career-high four goals in a season.
A scary moment for the Panthers in the third period as they would lose Jesper Boqvist after Marat Khusnutdinov finished a check on the sideboard. Boqvist’s helmet flew off and his head hit the ice.
Boqvist did not return to the game.
Florida scored a last-minute score with 30 seconds left when Eetu Luostarinen’s shot went past defenseman Brock Faber’s face.
After tracking his shot, Luostarinen fired the puck into the slightly open net to advance it even further, resulting in a 6-1 away win.
The Panthers finish their longest road trip of the season 3-2-0 and return home Friday night to welcome the St. Louis Blues at Sunrise.
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