The Florida Panthers started strong, but could not solve Kaapo Kahkonen after the first period as the Minnesota Wild ran its winning streak to four and its point streak to ten games with a 4-2 road victory.
Kahkonen, who like Cats’ keeper Chris Driedger was making his second NHL start, finished the tilt with 44 saves and blanked the Panthers over the final 45:34, allowing his team to fight back from a two-goal deficit after twenty.
Florida’s big guns struck in the opening period, with Aleksander Barkov notching a power-play goal from the top of the left circle at the 9:54 mark from Keith Yandle and Jonathan Huberdeau.