Chris Driedger was in the net when the Florida Panthers’ home-ice winning streak began last season. On Saturday night, he was the goaltender who ended it.
Driedger made 33 saves against his former team, leading the Seattle Kraken to a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers, halting Florida’s bid for a record-setting 12th consecutive home win to start the season.
“It was a bit of a challenge to stay focused,” Driedger said. “It’s so familiar being in this arena and seeing those guys on the other side of the ice—it’s a bit different.”
Jordan Eberle scored twice in his 800th NHL game, while Ryan Donato and Jamie Oleksiak added goals. Joonas Donskoi contributed two assists as the Kraken faced the Panthers for the first time.
Patric Hornqvist scored the lone goal for Florida, and Spencer Knight made 23 saves in net for the Panthers.
Florida aimed to become the first team in NHL history to start a season 12-0-0 at home, but it will now have to share the record of 11 consecutive home wins to open a season with the 1963-64 Chicago Blackhawks.
“We all knew what was at stake tonight, but it’s behind us now,” said Panthers forward Owen Tippett.
It was also Florida’s first regular-season home loss since last season. The Panthers had won 15 straight home games since last April, spanning two seasons, two coaches, and two arena names.
Ironically, it was Driedger—who was acquired by Seattle in the expansion draft after the Panthers left him unprotected—who came out of the visiting locker room to end the streak.
“We won start to finish tonight, and we really needed to, especially in this building against this team,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “They hadn’t lost here this year, so it was a good 60-minute performance for us.”
Florida’s home-ice winning streak began on April 24, with Driedger making 16 saves to help the Panthers beat Carolina in overtime. He posted a 21-8-4 record with a 2.07 goals-against average during his time with Florida but became expendable with Sergei Bobrovsky entrenched as the team’s No. 1 goalie and Knight emerging as the netminder of the future.
“I’m sure it meant a lot to him,” Eberle said. “It’s funny—every night seems to mean a lot to someone on this team, given our circumstances.”
Seattle took the lead just 2:22 into the game and never looked back. Eberle opened the scoring with a power-play goal, and Donato’s ninth of the season midway through the first period put the Kraken up 2-1.
The score remained unchanged until the third period when Eberle struck again at 5:57 to provide some insurance. With that, Florida’s pursuit of the outright record—and the sixth-longest home winning streak in NHL history—ended.
“There was a lot of buzz coming back into this building,” Driedger said, who visited the Florida locker room to catch up with former teammates after the game. “Felt really good to get that one. Pretty happy with our performance. That’s about as good as I’ve seen our group play, so hats off to them.”
LONGER STREAKS
Only three teams have had longer regular-season home-winning streaks than Florida’s 15. Detroit holds the NHL record with 23 consecutive home wins during the 2011-12 season. Boston won 22 straight spanning the 1929-30 and 1930-31 seasons, and Philadelphia recorded 20 consecutive home wins in 1976.
MOVING UP
Florida forward Joe Thornton recorded his 1,532nd career point with an assist in the first period, breaking a tie with Paul Coffey to take sole possession of 13th place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. Thornton is the leading scorer among active players and is now just one point behind Mark Recchi for 12th place.
Game Notes
Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov (knee) missed his fifth consecutive game, and forward Anthony Duclair (lower body) sat out for the second straight contest. Florida’s first trip to Seattle is scheduled for Jan. 23 as part of a five-game road trip. Seattle concludes its current trip with games at Buffalo on Monday and Detroit on Wednesday, their last games in the Eastern time zone until Jan. 27.
UP NEXT
- Kraken: Visit Buffalo on Monday.
- Panthers: Host Washington on Tuesday.
