Barkov sets Panthers’ points mark in 5-2 win over Red Wings

Associated PressMar 20, 2023, 10:41 PM EDT

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DETROIT – Aleksander Barkov set the Florida franchise record for most career points, Carter Verhaeghe scored two goals, and the streaking Panthers beat the Detroit Red Wings for the ninth consecutive time, 5-2.

Barkov recorded a second-period assist, giving him 614 points, breaking a tie with Jonathan Huberdeau for the team record.

Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, giving him 14 points over the last five games. Eric Staal and Gustav Forsling also scored for the Panthers, who are 6-0-1 over their last seven games, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 shots.

Pius Suter and Dylan Larkin scored for the Red Wings, who have lost 10 of their last 12 games. Ville Husso had 20 saves.

The Panthers led 2-1 after the first period.

The first Florida goal came after Lucas Raymond‘s turnover in his own zone. Sam Bennett made the steal and passed it to Tkachuk for his 33rd goal.

Verhaeghe made it 2-0 with a slap shot that got past a screened Husso. The Red Wings challenged for goalie interference, but the goal was upheld after a video review.

Just after killing off the subsequent penalty, Detroit got on the board when Suter jammed in a rebound of David Perron‘s shot.

Forsling scored on shot from the point midway through the second period to restore Florida’s two-goal advantage. Barkov had the second assist, allowing him to break the franchise points record.

Larkin scored on a delayed penalty off a pass from Raymond at 7:53 of the third to cut the Panthers’ lead to 3-2.

Staal scored on a breakaway off a pass from Anthony Duclair with under four minutes left, and Verhaeghe added a power-play goal.

GAME NOTES

Panthers F Eetu Luostarinen had an assist in the 200th game of his career. … Florida is 29-2-3 when leading after two periods. … The last time the Red Wings beat the Panthers was Feb. 20, 2021. … Barkov has 42 points in 38 career games against Detroit. … Andrew Copp notched his 150th career assist on Larkin’s goal.

UP NEXT

Panthers: At Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

Red Wings: At St. Louis on Tuesday night to open a home-and-home set.

Bruins acquire Tyler Bertuzzi in trade with Red Wings

Associated PressMar 2, 2023, 10:27 AM EST

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler Bertuzzi is going to the NHL-best Boston Bruins in the latest move by a Stanley Cup contender to keep pace in the loaded Eastern Conference.

The Bruins acquired Bertuzzi from the Detroit Red Wings for a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2024 and a fourth-rounder in 2025. Detroit is retaining half of Bertuzzi’s salary for the rest of the season.

Bertuzzi is a 28-year-old pending free agent winger who gives Boston depth up front and insurance for injured winger Taylor Hall. The team put Hall on long-term injured reserve, ruling him out until late March.

Enter Bertuzzi, who has himself been limited by injuries this season. He has 14 points in 29 games.

Bertuzzi has 88 goals and 114 assists in 305 regular-season games. He has yet to reach the playoffs in the NHL.

That will almost certainly change next month. The Bruins are on pace for 64 wins and 135 points, which would be the best regular season in hockey history with records in each of those categories.

Four years since the Lightning tied the league record for wins and got swept in the first round of the playoffs, the Bruins aren’t standing pat. They got defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway from Washington last week – a move that made them bigger and tougher in advance of a rough road through the East.

It got rougher in recent days.

Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina acquired defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and winger Jesse Puljujarvi, the New York Rangers traded for three-time Stanley Cup champion Patrick Kane, the Islanders got depth forward Pierre Engvall, Tampa Bay gave up five picks for 25-year-old forward Tanner Jeannot, Pittsburgh shuffled its roster to bring in Mikael Gralund and Toronto continued a roster makeover that has added up to six new players joining the Maple Leafs. Even Ottawa, five points out of a playoff spot, made a big splash by getting Jakob Chychrun from Arizona.

Entering Thursday, the Red Wings are tied in the standings with the Senators, but general manager Steve Yzerman is opting to sell rather than buy. Before moving on from Bertuzzi, he traded defenseman Filip Hronek to Vancouver in a deal that got his team a first-round pick.

Detroit also took care of some internal business Wednesday, signing captain Dylan Larkin to a $69.6 million, eight-year extension to keep the three-time All-Star center in the fold through 2031. Boston did the same Thursday with MVP candidate David Pastrnak, inking him to an eight-year deal worth $90 million – the sixth-most lucrative contract in NHL history.

There was little concern about Larkin going anywhere and none with Pastrnak. Among the players still expected to be traded before the deadline Friday at 3 p.m. EST are Philadelphia winger James van Riemsdyk, Anaheim defenseman John Klingberg and three-time Cup-winning goaltender Jonathan Quick, who was sent from Los Angeles to Columbus this week but is expected to be flipped to a contender.

Arizona could also part with any number of pending free agents and players signed beyond this season after acquiring Jakub Voracek‘s contract from the Blue Jackets along with a 2023 sixth-round pick for minor-league goalie Jon Gillies. The Coyotes can use the $8.25 million cap hit through next season for Voracek – whose career is likely over because of concussions – to avoid dipping below the salary floor, while Columbus gets some financial flexibility.

Among other moves Thursday, St. Louis re-signed Sammy Blais to a $1 million, one-year extension. The Blues reacquired Blais in the trade that sent Vladimir Tarasenko to the Rangers, who now have a lineup with the prolific scoring winger and Kane.

Red Wings sign Dylan Larkin to 8-year, $69.6M deal

Associated PressMar 1, 2023, 11:34 PM EST

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DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings have signed center Dylan Larkin to an eight-year, $69.6 million contract, banking on their captain being a key player in the next phase of their rebuilding plan.

The Red Wings announced the deal on Wednesday, two days before the NHL trade deadline.

Larkin’s new contract will pay him an average of $8.7 million per year.

Also on Wednesday, the Red Wings acquired a conditional first-round pick and a 2023 second-round pick from Vancouver for defenseman Filip Hronek and a 2023 fourth-rounder. The first-rounder is the Islanders’ pick from the trade for Bo Horvat, which is top-12 protected.

The Red Wings have lost three in a row after consecutive losses to the Ottawa Senators earlier this week and are attempting to end their lengthy playoff drought. They enter Wednesday five points behind Pittsburgh for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Red Wings, who haven’t reached the postseason since the 2015-16 season, will try to make up ground as they host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.

Larkin, a three-time NHL All-Star, leads the Red Wings with 22 goals and 57 points in 59 games this season. The 26-year-old has 169 goals and 415 points since making his NHL debut in Detroit during the 2015-16 season.

Larkin, who is from Waterford, became first Michigan native to be a Red Wings captain when he was given that honor two years ago.

Detroit drafted the University of Michigan product with the No. 15 pick overall in 2014 and he has given the franchise a dependable, two-way player during a string of lackluster seasons followed its run of 25 straight postseason appearances.

On Tuesday, Detroit signed defenseman Jake Walman to a three-year, $10.2 million contract.

Red Wings sign Olli Maatta to 2-year, $6 million extension

Associated PressFeb 16, 2023, 12:57 PM EST

David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports

DETROIT — The Detroit Red Wings signed defenseman Olli Maatta to a two-year, $6 million extension to keep him under contract through the 2024-2025 season.

The Red Wings announced the deal two weeks before the NHL trade deadline.

Maatta has five goals and 17 points this season, his first with Detroit, entering the game in Calgary. The 28-year-old Finn previously played for Pittsburgh, Chicago and Los Angeles.

He has scored five goals and has 27 points in 85 playoff games, helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017.

Marner gets 500th point, Maple Leafs beat Red Wings 4-1

Associated PressJan 8, 2023, 12:07 AM EST

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TORONTO — Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist to reach 500 career points as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Saturday night.

John Tavares had two goals and Pontus Holmberg also scored for Toronto, which snapped a two-game skid with its first win of the month.

Marner hit the 500-point mark in his 467th career game, just four days after Auston Matthews accomplished the feat. Matthews is the fastest player in franchise history to do it, accomplishing it in 445 games.

“It’s just a cool moment, for sure,” Marner said. “You definitely don’t try and really think about setting milestones or doing milestones and trying not (to) be selfish about yourself.”

Earlier in the season, Marner set the franchise record with a 23-game point streak.

“Growing up here in the city and dreaming to play for this team and doing it all with this team, it’s been special, it’s been a lot of fun but there’s bigger goals ahead,” Marner said. “It’s cool, enjoying the moment, but time to refresh and think about (next opponent) Philly now.”

Ilya Samsonov made 22 saves in a bounce-back effort after surrendering five goals in a 6-5 shootout loss to St. Louis on Tuesday.

“I think it’s noteworthy just the job Sammy did tonight,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We’ve been needing our whole team to play better. … But Sammy, the last three games in particular, he and (goaltending coach) Curtis Sanford have put in some real work.”

Jake Walman scored for Detroit in its third straight loss. Magnus Hellberg finished with 25 saves.

“Unfortunately, a fairly similar theme. Five-on-five play, good,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “Unfortunately, we lost the special teams battle tonight.”

Tavares capped a run of four consecutive goals for Toronto with an empty-netter with 1:39 remaining. It was his 18th of the season.

Olli Maata sent a laser of a pass from the end boards to spring Walman on a breakaway midway through the first period. Walman beat Samsonov top corner to open the scoring with 8:03 left in the opening period.

Marner tied it 24 seconds into the second with a sharp-angled goal on a rebound from Matthews’ point shot that went wide and off the boards behind the net. It gave Marner his milestone and Matthews was credited with an assist, allowing both players to extend their point streaks to four games.

Tavares scored the go-ahead goal 6:37 into the second when Calle Jarnkrok found him streaking down the middle of Detroit’s zone between two defenders.

“We just talked about upping our pace, really and just some of the execution coming out of our own end,” Tavares said of the team’s turnaround after a slow start. “I think we were just much quicker coming out of our own end, moving the puck a little faster and that allowed our feet to get moving, get on the forecheck and tilt the ice a little bit.”

Holmberg gave the Leafs a two-goal advantage when he tipped in Morgan Rielly‘s point shot 6:19 into the third for his fourth.

“Pretty good first period, we didn’t give up much,” Lalonde said. “Didn’t really hate our second, looks like we lost a little bit of gas. . Come out of that period down 2-1, and then we didn’t have enough for a push in the third.”

GOLDEN CANADIANS

Five members of Canada’s gold-medal winning world junior team were honored just past the midway mark of the first period. Brennan Othmann, Ethan del Mastro, Owen Beck, Shane Wright and Zack Ostapchuk were given a standing ovation from the Scotiabank Arena crowd when shown on the video board.

INDIGENOUS CELEBRATION

Saturday’s contest was Toronto’s first Indigenous Celebration game. Players wore warm-up jerseys designed by Indigenous artist Tyler Rushnell. The jerseys will be up for auction on Real Sports Auction with all of the proceeds to be donated to the Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre. There were also performances from the Toronto Council Fire Native All Nations Juniors drum group as Leafs players were introduced and a hoop dance routine during the second intermission.

UP NEXT

Red Wings: Host Winnipeg on Tuesday night to open a three-game homestand.

Maple Leafs: At Philadelphia on Sunday night.