Wild again stung by costly mistakes in 5-3 loss to Panthers

SUNRISE, FLA. – One team was starting its third-string goaltender, playing almost the entire game without its best defenseman and dealing with other personnel issues that sapped its lineup.

The other team lost.

Despite catching the Panthers in a shorthanded jam, the Wild couldn't take advantage of the circumstances and became just another obstacle Florida cleared for a 5-3 clapback on Saturday in front of 16,759 at FLA Live Arena that dealt the Wild a second straight loss.

They wrap up this four-game road trip on Tuesday at Tampa Bay.

"Everyone we play in this league on any night is good enough to be here," the Wild's Calen Addison said. "Doesn't matter who you're playing, what guy you're playing, what team you're playing. Every team's good."

Baudette's Alex Lyon was in net for the Panthers, making 29 saves while the team's usual tandem of Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight was sidelined.

In front of Lyon was an opportunistic Panthers offense that punished the Wild for their errors and responded every time the Wild started to generate momentum, which happened when they had a man advantage.

Technically, that was nearly the whole evening since Aaron Ekblad didn't return after taking three shifts, but Florida didn't collapse in the aftermath.

With 13 seconds left in the first period, a failed clearing attempt by Joel Eriksson Ek wound up on a wide-open Anton Lundell's stick and his dribbler rolled five-hole on Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson.

"Should probably just shoot it off the wall," Eriksson Ek said.

Only 1:40 into the second, Eetu Luostarinen picked the puck off the Wild's Sam Steel and skated to the middle where he unleashed a backhander past Gustavsson.

"We turned the puck over at the wrong times," Eriksson Ek said.

The Wild, who were skating in front of their dads, brothers and other guests who joined them in Florida for the rest of their road trip, cut their deficit in half at 8:56 on the power play when Matt Boldy scored his second goal in as many games after ending an 11-game goalless drought on Thursday in the 5-2 loss at Carolina. His 14 goals are also one shy of the career-high 15 he registered last season as a rookie.

But the Panthers doubled their lead on their own power play goal from Carter Verhaeghe with 28 seconds left in the second while Ryan Hartman was in the penalty box for roughing Florida's Givani Smith after the whistle.

"You never want to see a retaliatory penalty, but he slashes him first," coach Dean Evason said. "He shouldn't take a swing at him, for sure, but those happen in the game."

Eriksson Ek lifted in a rebound 4:37 into the third period again on the power play for his 16th goal of the season, and that made a Wild rally more realistic; by then, Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour was in the box with a 10-minute misconduct and forward Sam Bennett was still missing from the second.

Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling was also absent for a chunk of the middle period, but he made an impactful return in the third.

Just 3:14 after Eriksson Ek scored, Forsling regained control for Florida when he knocked down a puck and whacked it into the Wild net.

"Our power play got a huge goal there, and they answered right back," captain Jared Spurgeon said. "It's just the way things are going right now. We just got to stay with it, stay together and stay positive."

Spurgeon would get the Wild back within a goal with 1:26 left while Gustavsson (22 saves) was on the bench for an extra attacker, but Sam Reinhart capitalized into an empty net with 40 seconds to go.

Kirill Kaprizov racked up three assists, tying his career high. Mason Shaw subbed in for Marcus Foligno, who was sick, and Matt Dumba was a healthy scratch for a second consecutive game.

None of the Wild's goals came at even strength, with the power play going 2-for-2; the Panthers went 1-for-2.

"We have one more big game on this road trip to rebound before going home," Spurgeon said, "and we gotta start looking toward that one."