Panthers Frozen By Wild

     The Florida Panthers were defeated by the Minnesota Wild 4-2 at BB&T Center on Tuesday night. It was the second game of a nine-game home stand for the team. The Wild, who played in their league-high 18th road game this season, are now 7-0-3 in their last 10 games.
     Florida(13-9-5) got a power-play goal at 9:54 of the first period. Keith Yandle placed the puck from the top of the zone to Aleksander Barkov above the top left circle. He skated in a couple of steps and snapped in a shot from the top left circle for his ninth goal of the season. Jonathan Huberdeau was credited with an assist on the play.
     The Panthers extended the gap to 2-0 with 5:34 left in the first. Frank Vatrano took the puck away from Brad Hunt in the left corner. He centered it to the slot area where Huberdeau scored on a wrist shot past Kaapo Kahkonen for his 11th goal of the campaign.
     Minnesota(13-11-4) cut the lead to 2-1 at 9:26 of the second period. Jason Zucker poked the puck away from Mike Hoffman at the top of the Wild zone. He skated through the neutral zone on a breakaway and lifted a backhand shot by Chris Driedger. It was the first goal given up by Driedger this season.
     The Wild evened it up 2-2 with 7:04 to go in the second. Brad Hunt popped the puck in the air while in the right corner. Mats Zuccarello curled in the right circle and scored on a forehand shot for his fifth goal of the campaign.
     In the third period, Minnesota jumped to their first lead of the contest at 4:49. Victor Rask handed it off to Zach Parise on the right-wing wall. He connected a cross-ice pass to the low slot and Carson Soucy released a shot from close range. Luke Kunin put in an open-net goal with 1:01 remaining in the third for a 4-2 lead.