Red Wings 5, Panthers 3: Faulk and Brandsegg-Nygård score 45 seconds apart in the third
Detroit turned a 2-2 game into a 4-2 lead in under a minute early in the third period and held on in Sunrise.
The Detroit Red Wings beat the Florida Panthers 5-3 in Sunrise, Fla., on Monday, with two goals in 45 seconds early in the third period breaking a 2-2 tie.
How it unfolded
Rookie Carter Mazur opened the scoring at 5:26 of the first period with his first NHL goal, a wrist shot over Jacob Markstrom's left shoulder, per NHL.com. Sam Reinhart tied it at 14:19. Alex DeBrincat put Detroit back in front 1:26 into the second, finishing a cross-ice feed from Viktor Arvidsson on a 3-on-1. Aaron Ekblad then tied the game at 2-2 with a shorthanded goal at 15:25 of the second, when a loose puck went in off goalie Daniil Tarasov's left skate.
The third period decided it. Justin Faulk scored on the power play at 2:08, one-timing a pass from Andrew Copp. Michael Brandsegg-Nygård made it 4-2 at 2:53, off a shovel pass from Lucas Raymond, which NHL.com notes was his first career game-winning goal. The Associated Press describes the goal as coming from deep in the slot.
Florida pulled Markstrom for an extra attacker and Sam Bennett cut the deficit to 4-3 with about three minutes left, redirecting a pass from Matthew Tkachuk. Emmitt Finnie sealed it with an empty-net goal with three seconds remaining.
Tarasov made 23 saves for Detroit. Markstrom stopped 24 in his first start since Oct. 17, per NHL.com. Tarasov spent last season as Sergei Bobrovsky's backup in Florida, the AP notes. Florida never led, and its three-game winning streak ended.
What it means
NHL.com lists Detroit at 7-5-3 and winners of three of its past four, with Florida at 8-5-2. The AP adds that Detroit remains tied for the fewest points in the Atlantic Division, in which eight teams were separated by six points entering the night.
Copp and Moritz Seider each had two assists, and Seider reached 250 career points, NHL.com says. Detroit coach Todd McLellan said that facing Florida "is done in the trenches." Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Detroit played well and that he was not pleased with his team's effort, in NHL.com's paraphrase.
Detroit visits Tampa Bay on Tuesday; Florida hosts Chicago on Wednesday.