Wild Rip Panthers

     After a four-game road trip against Western Conference opponents, the Florida Panthers returned home and fell to the Minnesota Wild 4-1 at BB&T Center on Monday night. The Cats have lost two straight home games while the Wild have won five of their last six games.
     Minnesota(12-8-0) put up two goals in the first period and never looked back. They scored 5:58 into the game when Mikko Koivu sent a cross-ice pass from the left wing to Jason Zucker in the right circle and let go a one-time shot by Roberto Luongo. Nino Neiderreiter made it 2-0 with 2:17 left in the first when he put in a shot from close range following a Panthers turnover.
     In the second period, Shawn Thornton tallied his first goal with Florida(7-6-6). Dmitry Kulikov flinged the puck from the blue line and Thornton redirected it in the slot area past Niklas Backstrom at 5:34.
     The Wild regained their two-goal cushion with 2:41 to go as Zucker skated toward the left of the crease and lifted a backhand shot over Lunogo's glove and into the roof of the Panthers cage. Koivu was again credited with the only assist on another Minnesota goal.
     The Panthers pulled their goalie for an extra attacker with two minutes left in the third period, but Zach Parise put the biscuit into an open net at 18:31.