Florida sucks. Especially if you’re a Red Wings fan.
Detroit capped off a tough trip to Florida with a poor performance in Sunrise. I expected the Panthers to pummel the Wings, but not as bad as what actually played out. Detroit was flat, all game long. It’s hard to really pull any positives from Saturday night’s game.
Most of the Red Wings’ meaningful play came in the first period. The Panthers opened the scoring, but Robby Fabbri answered to keep things close just before the halfway point of the first period:
Shit kinda went sound from here.
It only took the Panthers a couple of minutes. Anthony Duclair wired a power-play goal past Thomas Greiss, and that the beginning of the end of his night. Florida scored again, another power-play goal from Anton Lundell, and the first period would end 3-1. It doesn’t get better from here.
Florida sank the Red Wings in the second period. Three goals, unanswered. Thomas Greiss was pulled around the half-way point, wiping out a night off for Alex Nedeljkovic. The second period would bring another goal from rookie Anton Lundell, who is beginning to gain ground in the rookie scoring race.
Going into the third period at 6-1, things are pretty grim. Tyler Bertuzzi would tack on a garbage-time goal, and Joe Veleno got the lone assist. So I guess it’s cool JV picked up a point.
The Detroit Red Wings’ trip to Florida sucked. Tampa was tolerable, but the ass-whooping from the Panthers made the trip a complete wash. You’d like to see your goaltending play better, but the Florida Panthers are a really good team. Same with the Tampa Bay Lightning. This short road-trip shows just how much work the Red Wings have to do in this rebuild.
The Red Wings head back home for a Tuesday matchup with the Arizona Coyotes. Let’s see if they can move past the Florida trip.