Panthers Bring Three Straight Wins and Five Hat Tricks Into Monday Night's Game Against Detroit in Sunrise
Florida, 3-1-0 at home, faces a Red Wings team that blew a 4-2 third-period lead on Saturday and arrives without suspended captain Dylan Larkin - while Anton Lundell's Friday hat trick left the Panthers one short of the franchise record.
The Florida Panthers take a three-game winning streak and a 3-1-0 home record into Monday night's game against the Detroit Red Wings in Sunrise - and they bring the league's most unusual scoring feat with them. Florida has scored five hat tricks this season, one short of the franchise record, the most recent belonging to Anton Lundell, who scored three goals on Friday night in a 5-2 win over the visiting Winnipeg Jets. 'You want to produce,' Lundell said. 'Everybody wants to score.' The Panthers entered the week tied for 15th in the NHL at 3.14 goals per game and ninth with a 24.2 percent power play, with Brady Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe tied for the team lead at eight goals each and Sam Reinhart on top with six power-play goals.
The net belongs to Akira Schmid, who has done a solid job taking over for Jacob Markstrom (upper-body injury): 5-2-1 with a 2.86 goals-against average and an .889 save percentage, and 1-1-0 in two career games against Detroit with a 2.50 GAA and .907 save percentage. 'Akira has gotten better and better in every game he's played for us,' Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. Monday is also the debut of the club's sunrise-colored Hometown Remix uniform, unveiled earlier in the day - the play, though, is the streak, and Detroit is the test of it.
Detroit arrives wounded in every sense. The Red Wings, last in the Atlantic Division and in the midst of the longest active playoff drought in the NHL at 10 seasons, lost 5-4 to St. Louis on Saturday after leading 4-2 in the third period and allowing three goals in a five-minute span; John Gibson stopped just 10 of 15 shots, but coach Todd McLellan refused the easy blame: 'You can't put this on John.' Captain Dylan Larkin - Detroit's longest-tenured player - was suspended without pay on Thursday after requesting a trade and informing the team he will no longer play for the Red Wings; without Larkin (two goals, four assists in 10 games), Viktor Arvidsson leads Detroit with eight goals and Alex DeBrincat tops the squad with 15 points. Backup Daniil Tarasov, Florida's backup last season, is 1-0-2 with a 1.40 GAA and a .940 save percentage. Puck drop is 7 p.m. Eastern at Amerant Bank Arena; the Sports Desk files the final tonight.
