Free-agent additions Mason Appleton and James van Riemsdyk made a big impact in the Detroit Red Wings’ last game. The duo will look to continue that success when Detroit hosts the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.
Appleton, who signed a two-year contract, scored the go-ahead goal with 45 seconds remaining in the Red Wings’ 3-2 victory Monday afternoon at Toronto. Detroit posted back-to-back victories over the Maple Leafs, also winning 6-3 on Saturday night at home.
Van Riemsdyk, who signed a one-year deal, scored the Wings’ second goal while making his Detroit debut. He missed the first two games due to family reasons.
“With everything that I’ve been through in the last month or so here, with the family stuff at home and the support of the organization and the guys in the room, just having my first game in a building like this that I have a lot of history in, it was pretty fun to get back out there,” said van Riemsdyk, who played six seasons with Toronto. “It was a big win for the team, and definitely one I’ll look back on.”
The star of the game was goaltender Cam Talbot, who made 38 saves.
“We grinded one out, and that’s what good teams do on the road,” Talbot said. “We’ve put together a couple of good ones here. We knew this would be a tough one and we’d need everybody.”
Detroit may not have its best scorer available on Wednesday. Lucas Raymond, who notched 80 points a year ago and scored two goals on Saturday, departed during the second period. He was checked hard into the boards and suffered an upper-body injury, the team announced.
Following three home victories, the Panthers suffered their first loss of the season Monday in their road opener. They opened a five-game trip with a 5-2 loss to Philadelphia, which scored three goals in the final five minutes.
“They came on fast,” said Panthers forward Sam Bennett. “They had a lot of jump to start the game. They put some good pressure on us. I thought we played well in the third (period). We had a good pushback and a lot of chances. They capitalized, and we couldn’t get it back.”
Panthers coach Paul Maurice felt the game was determined by poor passing and overall passiveness.
“We’ll look back at the game and it won’t be a lot of defensive breakdowns,” Maurice said. “It’s what we did with the puck and why. A lot of standing with the puck when we moved it. A slow-puck game. The turnovers, even broken plays or plays that didn’t get completed, we were standing still when we were moving the puck.”
Florida did excel on the penalty kill, as the Flyers failed to convert on its five power plays. With Sam Reinhart’s short-handed goal Monday, the Panthers have outscored their opponents 1-0 when their foes have been on the power play — as Florida has killed all 12 opportunities to date.
Maurice credited the front-line pairing of Reinhart and Anton Lundell.
“They’re so good together,” he said. “That’s an obvious pair for us. I’ve liked our kill.”
