Recap: Panthers use balanced attack to crush Red Wings 5-1

Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty ImagesThe Florida Panthers returned home for a one-off at FLA Live Arena and crushed the Detroit Red Wings 5-1, moving within a point of the Eastern Conference’s second wild card spot.

After dominating most of the first period, the Panthers got on the board at 18:05 when a bad line change by Detroit opened up space for Chris Tierney, who took a head-man pass from Marc Staal, to break in on Alex Nedeljkovic and whip a backhander through his pads for his first of the season.

The Cats added to the lead at 1:47 of the second when Sam Reinhart carried end-to-end before dropping the puck to Aleksander Barkov. Barkov, finally back after missing six games, took a couple…