SUNRISE, Fla. _ It was been Jaromir Jagr bobblehead night, but it was his new linemate, Jonathan Marchessault, who sealed the Florida Panthers first 2-0 start in 10 years.
Although the Panthers dominated the action from the opening faceoff, Red Wings goalie Petr Mzarek kept Detroit in the game until Marchessault set up Aleksander Barkov for the dagger before adding an empty-netter to give Florida a 4-1 victory Saturday night at the BB&T Center.
The last time the Panthers began a season with two victories was in the 2005-06 season and it was a 26-year-old Roberto Luongo recording consecutive shutouts in his final season of his first stint with Florida. Luongo, now 37, notched his second straight win, giving him 438 victories to move past Jacques Plante into sixth place on the all-time list.
Next in his sights are Terry Sawchuk (447) and Curtis Joseph (454), however, his new backup, James Reimer, is expected to start Tuesday in Tampa.
Despite outshooting Detroit 38-22, the Panthers were clinging to a 2-1 lead with 2:22 remaining when Marchessault gobbled up a loose puck before setting up Barkov in front. Mzarek made the initial stop but Barkov lifted the rebound over him for his second goal in two games. Jagr didn't get his 750th goal but did get his 1,120th assist.
Marchessault, who scored a goal in Florida's 2-1 win over the Devils Thursday, had a goal and two assists.
The Panthers, especially Vincent Trocheck, came out flying, as before the smoke cleared from the pre-game entrance, the second-line center sped around Detroit's defense before centering a pass off the skate of Red Wings' phenom Dylan Larkin and past Mrazek.
Trocheck, who's coming off a career-best 25-goal season, notched No. 1 and he now has five goals and eight points in eight games against Florida's Atlantic Division rival. Jussi Jokinen, who led the Panthers with 42 assists last season, got the helper.
Then at 10:01 the Panthers took a 2-0 lead after Luongo made a sprawling save on Riley Sheahan's point-blanker to set off an odd-man rush led by a trio of new Panthers. Denis Malgin sent a breakout pass to Jon Marchessault whose cross-ice saucer pass gave Colton Sceviour a wide-open look as he deposited his first goal as a Panther. For Malgin, it was the 19-year-old rookie's first career point in his second game.
Despite outshooting Detroit 10-3 at one point, the Red Wings cut the deficit 2-1 at 13:07 as Gustav Nyquist set up center Darren Helm for a one-time slot shot.
The Panthers excited the second period with a 28-13 shot advantage, but couldn't add to their 2-1 first-period lead. Twice, Mzarek robbed Trocheck on semi-breakaways, and Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith made a goal-saving play by blocking the shot of his younger brother, Reilly Smith.
