The Red Wings pounced quickly against Florida as speed demon Andreas Athanasiou rifled a one timer into the back of the net (1-0 Wings). The goal came with Andreas left open in the slot, only to find himself alone with James Reimer. A bad defensive breakdown was not good so early and seemed as if the Panthers were going to get pounced.
However, that wasn’t quite the case as the Cats quickly responded with more momentum and effort later in the period. Evgenii Dadonov received a beautiful feed from offensive specialist Keith Yandle, who sent Dadonov alone on a breakaway.