Mike Benning scored his first two NHL goals, Wilmer Skoog tallied his first two assists in his third game and Mikulus Hovorka got a point in his fourth contest as the Florida Panthers dominated the visiting Detroit Red Wings 8-1 in Wednesday’s regular-season finale.
Luke Kunin had two goals and an assist, Cole Reinhardt had a goal and an assist, Matthew Tkachuk and Marek Alscher each had two assists, and Daniil Tarasov made 24 saves for the Panthers (40-38-4, 84 points). Florida, which won’t defend its Stanley Cup title, had 16 regular players on the injured list heading into Wednesday’s game.
Justin Faulk scored the lone goal for the Red Wings (41-31-10, 92 points), who narrowly missed making the playoffs and lost eight of their last 10 games of the season. Cam Talbot made eight saves in relief of John Gibson, who allowed four goals on 11 shots and exited in the second period after getting hit in the face with the puck.
Vinnie Hinostroza put the Panthers up 1-0 at 4:57 of the first period. Skoog set Hinostroza up for a snap shot that eluded Gibson from an awkward angle.
Kunin increased Florida’s lead to 2-0 at 5:37 of the second period. Tkachuk set the goal up with a backhanded pass, and Kunin’s shot from down on one knee scored bar down on Gibson.
A.J. Greer made it 3-0 at 8:56 on a wrap-around goal on the power play. Benning, a rookie defenseman in his 18th game, further increased the lead with a wrist shot set up by Skoog to make it 4-0 at 9:39.
Benning added to his tally at 12:41 when Donovan Sebrango set him up for a snap shot.
Faulk put Detroit on the board to make it 5-1 at 16:12. Alex DeBrincat set the play up with a cross-ice pass, and Faulk scored on a wrist shot.
Florida outshot Detroit 14-7 in the second period. The Red Wings didn’t register their first shot on goal of the second period until the 8:39 mark.
Cole Schwindt made it 6-1 at 8:56 of the third period when he redirected Alscher’s shot.
Reinhardt scored on a snap shot to make it 7-1 at 9:37. Kunin’s wrist shot off the post with 1:48 remaining in the game solidified the 8-1 final.
