Sceviour and Barkov lift Panthers to 4-1 win over Red Wings
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) The Florida Panthers' new additions are making the most of their opportunity.
Colton Sceviour scored his first goal for Florida and Aleksander Barkov added his second goal of the season to lead the Panthers to a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.
Sceviour signed with the Panthers as a free agent in July after playing parts of five seasons with Dallas.
''Everyone is fitting in well, but when you can contribute, obviously it helps bring the team together and you feel like you're helping contribute to something good,'' Sceviour said. ''That was our goal and we've been doing it so far.''
Jonathan Marchessault also signed as a free agent in July and scored a goal and recorded two assists. Marchessault vaulted into a higher role when Jonathan Huberdeau suffered a leg injury in the last preseason.
''It's a really good game. It's tough to get an injury (Huberdeau) that early in the year and I think our group showed some character and guys are able to step up,'' Marchessault said. ''I think it's real positive again tonight.''
Panthers 19-year-old rookie Denis Malgin recorded an assist on Sceviour's goal for his first NHL point.
''Of course it's nice to get my first NHL point, but the team helped me out and it was a good game,'' Malgin said.
Vincent Trocheck also scored a goal for Florida and Jaromir Jagr also had an assist.
''We've got a lot of new guys on our team and to see the way we played the first two games for six periods, I thought we played great hockey,'' Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. ''It's good to see.''
Barkov's goal made it 3-1 with 2:22 left and Marchessault added an empty-netter about a minute later. The Panthers won their second straight and the Red Wings fall to 0-2.
''We've got something to work on, that's for sure,'' Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg. ''It's early in the year and we're trying to do the right thing but we're not really connected right now.''
Darren Helm scored for Detroit while Petr Mrazek stopped 34 shots for the Red Wings.
''The night didn't start well, the way I wanted,'' Mrazek said. ''The first one went in off (the) skate. We don't have any points so it's disappointing for us.''
Roberto Luongo had 21 saves for the Panthers.
Trailing 2-0, the Red Wings closed to within one on the goal by Helm with 6:53 left in the first. Gustav Nyquist passed from behind the net to Helm in the slot and his one-timer beat Luongo.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead on Trocheck's goal 1:10 in. Trocheck passed from behind the net and the puck bounced off the skate of Red Wings player Dylan Larkin and into the net.
Florida stretched its lead to 2-0 when Sceviour took a cross-ice pass from Marchessault in the bottom of the right circle and fired it past Mrazek at 10:01.
''Top to bottom we need to be better,'' Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said.
NOTES: Panthers F Reilly Smith's brother Brendan is a defenseman for the Red Wings. ... Andreas Athanasiou, a healthy scratch opening night, played on the top line with Frans Nielsen and Henrik Zetterberg for the Red Wings.
UP NEXT
Red Wings: Hosting Ottawa on Monday
Panthers: Visiting Tampa Bay on Tuesday