Wild roll past host Panthers 5-1; Florida coach extends contract
SUNRISE - Filip Gustavsson continued his sizzling start to the season by making 24 saves, Jake Middleton tied a career-best with three assists and the Minnesota Wild beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 on Tuesday night.
Mats Zuccarello had his team-leading fourth goal of the season for the Wild, who also got goals from Marcus Johansson, Marco Rossi, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek. Rossi and Johansson scored 22 seconds apart in the first period for a 2-0 lead, and it was 5-1 by the end of the second.
Sam Bennett got his fifth goal of the season for Florida, with Matthew Tkachuk — back from a five-game absence because of illness — getting one of the assists.
Gustavsson (4-0-1) has allowed seven goals on 145 shots so far this season. That means he's allowed only six more goals than he's scored.
Panthers' Sergei Bobrovsky gave up five goals on 16 shots and was pulled after the second period, replaced by Spencer Knight. Bobrovsky remained one win shy of becoming the 14th goaltender with 400 victories.
Eriksson Ek's goal with 3:55 left in the second made it 5-1. It was Minnesota's biggest lead in Sunrise since a 6-2 edge on Oct. 16, 2008.
The Wild (4-0-2, 10 points) have gotten at least one point in each of their first six games. The last time that happened was 2008-09 (5-0-1, 11 points).
Minnesota plays the fifth game of its seven-game road swing Thursday at Tampa Bay. Florida visits the New York Rangers on Thursday, the start of a three-game trip to the Empire State — one that'll be followed by games in Finland Nov. 1 and 2 against Dallas. The Panthers next play in Sunrise on Nov. 7.
Maurice's contract extension
The contract extension discussions between Paul Maurice and the Florida Panthers weren't exactly of the back-and-forth variety.
"There was really no negotiation," Maurice said. "They made me a really nice offer and we shook hands and I said, 'Thank you.' And that was it."
And with that, the Panthers are keeping their Stanley Cup-winning coach for the foreseeable future. Maurice and the Panthers have agreed on an extended contract, the team announced Tuesday without disclosing terms.
"I'm interested in coaching the Florida Panthers for as long as they'll have me," Maurice said. "It's great coming to the rink."
Maurice was in the final year of a three-year deal, and it was a certainty that Panthers owners Vincent and Teresa Viola planned on keeping him around after he took the team to the Stanley Cup Final in each of his first two seasons.
"Paul has resolutely led our organization to unprecedented success during his relatively short tenure in South Florida," Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito said in a statement. "He is a superb communicator and leader for our staff and players, possessing a keen strategic mind for the game. We are excited for Paul and his staff to continue to keep the Florida Panthers as a destination franchise for the foreseeable future."
Maurice has 98 regular-season wins with Florida, already the third most in club history behind Jacques Martin (110) and Peter DeBoer (103). And his postseason success with the Panthers is beyond compare; he's won 29 playoff games with Florida — highlighted by the team winning its first Stanley Cup last season — while every other coach in club history has 25 playoff wins combined.
It's the latest big deal that the team has gotten done, and more proof that Florida's championship core might be together for years to come.
Maurice is second in NHL history in games coached (1,856) behind Scotty Bowman (2,141), and fourth all-time in wins (873) behind Bowman (1,244), Joel Quenneville (969) and Barry Trotz (914).
