Detroit Red Wings collapse in 3rd, give up 2 goals in final 90 seconds
· Yahoo Sports
SUNRISE, FL – Already without their No. 1 center, the Detroit Red Wings lost their No. 2 middleman, too.
Justin Faulk had just scored his first goal in his second game with the Wings, around midway through the game against the Florida Panthers, when Andrew Copp went down on the ice in visible pain after a mishap during a faceoff. He did not return.
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That wasn't the only negative of the night, either: The Wings let a third-period lead slip away in the final 90 seconds and wound up losing, 4-3, to the defending Stanley Cup champions at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday, March 10.
Marco Kasper's goal stood as a go-ahead one until there Carter Verhaeghe scored an equalizer off a setup from Matthew Tkachuk with 1:30 remaining. Tkachuk – who scored all three Panthers goals in Florida's win over the Red Wings on Saturday in Detroit – found Verhaeghe again for the winning goal with 14.8 seconds to go.
Detroit Red Wings playoff picture
The Wings (36-22-7, 79 points) fell into a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference when the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs to jump to 80 points. The Red Wings trail the Atlantic Division-leading Buffalo Sabres by seven points.
Next up for the Wings
The Wings' four-game road trip now continues in the state of Florida as they head north to Tampa to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit). After that, it's west to Dallas to face the Stars on Saturday before a return home against the Calgary Flames on March 16.
An early hole in South Florida
The Wings started well, cycling the puck in Florida's zone and putting pressure on backup goalie Daniil Tarasov. But it was the Panthers who scored, when Jesper Boqvist threw the puck on net from along the left boards. Vinnie Hinostroza was in position to the left of the net to tip the puck shortside on John Gibson, at 9:48 of the first period. The Wings didn't respond well, spending the next several shifts doing little. A power play at 13:30 didn't generate much momentum, either, but the Wings regained their footing before the period ended.
Crips execution paid off four minutes into the second period. Alex DeBrincat swung the puck across to Moritz Seider, who fired a shot towards the net. The puck popped out to the right of the net, where Kane lurked and was able to knock it in for his 10th goal of the season.
The Wings took the lead at 12:59. Copp won the draw and the puck squirted across the ice to Faulk. He got his stick on the puck, stepped towards the hashmarks in the left cirlce, and angled a backhand shot far side into the net. Copp was hurt on that play when he became tangled up with Tomas Nosek, who fell on Copp's left leg. Copp winced, and was helped off the ice favoring his left leg.
His injury comes less than a week after Dylan Larkin injured his right leg when he pulled up to take a shot in the March 6 home game against the Panthers. Larkin is on the trip, though there's no real timeline on his return as of yet.
The Panthers tied it five minutes into the third period when Niko Mikkola ripped a slap shot from the left point that deflected in behind Gibson. The Wings restored their lead within little more than a minute, with Emmitt Finnie finding Kasper, who strode to the slot and made it 3-2, at 6:32. Faulk drew the second assist, giving him his first multi-point game since being acquired at the March 6 trade deadline.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings collapse in 3rd period of 4-3 loss to Panthers