SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) - The Detroit Red Wings got a much-needed win behind a great performance from their goalie.
Jimmy Howard stopped a season-high 44 shots and Gustav Nyquist scored the tying goal in the second period then got the winner in a shootout, lifting the Red Wings over the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Saturday night to snap a six-game skid.
“It’s no secret we’ve been needing one for a while, it was nice to get one tonight and get the win,” Nyquist said.
Andreas Athanasiou also scored to back a big night from Howard, who also was perfect in the shootout.
“Sometimes when teams are going through a little bit of a slump you need someone to step up,” Howard said. “A long-term recipe for success is not going to be giving up that many shots and opportunities.”
Jonathan Huberdeau and Evgenii Dadonov scored for the Panthers. James Reimer made 36 saves.
“I thought both goalies were excellent tonight,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said.
Nyquist beat Reimer in the third round of the shootout, firing a shot from the left circle.
“To see that goal go in was real good. We need the win,” Blashill said.
The Red Wings have won 12 consecutive shootouts dating to Feb. 23, 2016.
“Three-on-three and the shootout, it’s kind of like a carnival out there,” Reimer said. “You’re just going around playing a little pond hockey and it’s exciting.”
Florida took a 2-1 lead on Dadonov’s power-play goal after he redirected a pass from Vincent Trocheck past Howard at 8:23 of the second.
The Red Wings tied it when Nyquist poked in his own rebound at 10:46 of the second.
“It was a hard-fought game by both teams,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. “We knew Detroit was going to be desperate here, and we’re desperate ourselves.”
The Panthers appeared to have a goal at 7:15 of the second when Huberdeau bounced the puck off a Detroit player’s skate and into the net. The goal was disallowed after a coach’s challenge when it was ruled goaltender interference because Aleksander Barkov collided with Howard in the crease.
“Yeah, I did a little (interfere with goalie). I was going to the net hard and then I had a defenseman,” Barkov said. “I hit the goalie’s pads. They were pretty accurate with that, so they took it away.”
“That was a no-brainer,” Howard said.
Athanasiou gave Detroit a 1-0 lead on his power-play goal in the first. Athanasiou took a pass from behind the goal line by Dylan Larkin and one-timed it from the slot at 5:28. Athanasiou played his second game since returning from a contract dispute.
Huberdeau tied it 1-all on his goal at 4:19 of the second when he redirected the puck into the net from in front.
The Panthers killed off two minutes of a 5-on-3 midway through the first period.
NOTES: Panthers C Chase Balisy made his NHL debut. Balisy was recalled on Thursday from AHL Springfield. … C Connor Brickley was scratched with an upper-body injury from Thursday’s game against Anaheim. … Red Wings D Danny DeKeyser missed the game with a lower-body injury.
UP NEXT:
Red Wings: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.
Panthers: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.
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