Wild extend Panthers’ struggles with game-winner in closing seconds
Marcus Foligno scored in his first game back from injury and Joel Eriksson Ek scored the go-ahead goal with five seconds left as the Minnesota Wild defeated the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Thursday night in Sunrise, Fla.
Ryan Hartman also scored for Minnesota (41-20-12, 94 points), which got 18 saves from Jesper Wallstedt.
Minnesota improved to 29-0-4 when leading after two periods.
It was a big night for Foligno, who had missed 12 straight games due to a lower-body injury. In addition, it was also the first time that Foligno, 34, played a game with his brother Nick Foligno, 38, since they were in the sixth and ninth grades, respectively. Nick Foligno was acquired from Chicago earlier this month.
Matthew Tkachuk and Aaron Ekblad scored for the Panthers, who got a 46-save performance from backup goalie Daniil Tarasov.
The Panthers (35-33-3, 74 points) have lost four of their past six games (2-4-0) and now have the second-fewest points in the Eastern Conference.
In terms of shots on goal, Minnesota held a sizable 19-6 advantage in the first period. However, there were no goals in the opening 20 minutes because Tarasov racked up 19 saves.
Minnesota finally cracked the code with 17:13 left in the second as Yakov Trenin drove down the right wing before dishing to Marcus Foligno, who slipped the puck between Tarasov's pads to give the Wild a 1-0 lead.
The Wild extended their lead to 2-0 with 1:35 left in the second as Hartman feasted on a turnover by Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. On the play, Kulikov tried to clear the puck behind his own net, but Hartman picked off the gift and scored from point-blank range. The puck went under the glove of Tarasov, who dove to try and make the stop.
Florida finally got on the board just 42 seconds into the third period on Tkachuk's tip-in off a long shot by Gustav Forsling.
The Panthers then pulled Tarasov with three minutes left, and the gamble worked as Ekblad tied the score with 1:13 remaining.
However, Eriksson Ek scored on a rebound while falling to the ice for the game-winning goal in the waning seconds.