Mathias Brome scored his first career goal late in the second period and the host Detroit Red Wings held on for a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday.
The Wings avenged a 7-2 loss to the Panthers the night before. Florida has defeated Detroit in four of six meetings this season.
Patrik Nemeth scored his first goal of the season for the Red Wings and Jonathan Bernier stopped 38 shots, including eight on three Panthers power plays. Darren Helm had five shots on goal for Detroit, which had lost its last six home meetings (0-4-2) with Florida.
Alex Wennberg scored the only goal for the Panthers, who lost in regulation for just the third time in 16 games this season. Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for Florida. Patric Hornqvist, who scored two goals in Friday’s victory, had four shots on goal while Keith Yandle and Aaron Eklbad had a team-high five.
The Red Wings won 54.5 percent of the faceoffs and blocked 17 shots, compared to nine by Florida.
The Panthers scored the only goal of the first period on a power play. Anthony Duclair cut toward the slot and found Wennberg open in front. He patiently handled the puck before slipping it past Bernier at 14:43. Frank Vatrano got the second assist.
The Wings took the lead in the second period.
Nemeth ripped a shot from the left circle that whistled past Bobrovsky and into the top shelf of the net. Luke Glendening won a faceoff and Christian Djoos collected the puck before passing it to his defensive partner.
Brome scored on a rebound at 17:27 of the period. Dylan Larkin emerged from the boards and cut across the middle before taking a shot that Bobrovsky stopped but Brome went unchecked near the net.
Detroit’s Anthony Mantha had a chance to give his team some breathing room with four minutes remaining on a breakaway. His shot went through Bobrovsky’s legs and banged off the goalpost.
It didn’t matter as Florida couldn’t get the puck past Bernier again.
–Field Level Media