Panthers 2, Red Wings 0
DETROIT -- Center Jonathan Huberdeau's goal early in the third period broke a tie and gave the Florida Panthers a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the Detroit Red Wings at the Joe Louis Arena on Saturday night.
Right winger Jimmy Hayes also scored for Florida (9-16-5), which won its second consecutive game after three straight losses. Center Shawn Matthias had two assists and goaltender Tim Thomas, who is from Flint, Mich., stopped 22 shots.
Right winger Daniel Cleary scored for Detroit (15-9-7), which is only 5-6-6 at home. Backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson, making his second consecutive start, made 35 saves. It was his first regulation loss of the season (8-1-1). The Red Wings had two power-play opportunities to tie the game in the final 10 minutes but came up empty.
Huberdeau gave Florida the lead 3:29 into the third period. Left wide open in front of Gustavsson, Huberdeau put in a backhand shot after making a move for his seventh goal.
Detroit defenseman Brian Lashoff went to the locker room after getting hit with a shot in the groin area early in the third period.
Hayes tied it at 1, 2:59 into the second period with his third goal. Gustavsson appeared to have Matthias' shot smothered. But it dropped under one of his pads and Hayes poked it in for his second goal in two games.
Hayes also hit the crossbar with a backhand shot from the slot with less than three minutes left in the second.
Cleary opened the scoring 4:06 into the contest with his first goal in 24 games. He put in the rebound of left winger Justin Abdelkader's shot for Cleary's second goal of the season.
After each team had nine shots on goal in the first period, the Panthers dominated the second by outshooting the Red Wings 17-5.
NOTES: Detroit C Stephen Weiss played his first game against his former team. Weiss signed a five-year, $25 million free agent contract with the Red Wings in July. ... Detroit remained without both C Pavel Datsyuk (concussion) and C and captain Henrik Zetterberg (herniated disc). The Red Wings said Datsyuk will return on Tuesday when the two teams play in Florida. ... Panthers G Tim Thomas is from Flint, Mich., which is about 60 miles north of Detroit. ... The Red Wings were also without C Darren Helm, who missed his second game with a shoulder injury. ... Florida RW Tomas Kopecky formerly played for Detroit.
