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Panthers eye quick start against Wild

Nov 24, 2014 - 3:38 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - A late charge allowed the Florida Panthers to steal a point last time, but they'll hope for a better start on Monday night as they play host to the Minnesota Wild.

The Panthers seemed on their way to a shutout defeat at the hands of the Nashville Predators on Saturday, but got goals from Rocco Grimaldi and Nick Bjugstad with less than a minute left in regulation to force overtime.

The game went into a shootout, but Nashville's Filip Forsberg put home the winner in the fourth round to hand Florida a 3-2 loss.

Grimaldi scored his first career NHL goal 12 seconds before Bjugstad tied things up with 30.3 seconds on the clock. Roberto Luongo ended with 48 saves for the Panthers, who have split their past six but have a point in five of those games (3-1-2).

"It's fun and it felt like the crowd was on top of us," said Luongo, who made 18 saves in the second period. "This was one of those games that makes it all worth it."

The Panthers will play three in a row at home and could have either Scottie Upshall or Sean Bergenheim back in the lineup tonight from lower-body injuries. Grimaldi was assigned back to the minors on Sunday.

Luongo figures to get the start tonight and is 17-15-5 with a 2.65 goals against average, .905 save percentage and five shutouts versus the Wild.

Minnesota had a four-game winning streak snapped on Saturday with a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Zach Parise scored and Darcy Kuemper gave up both goals on 28 shots faced in defeat.

"I thought for the most part we played a good game," said Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo. "However, you come in against a team like that and score one goal and expect to win."

Minnesota will conclude a three-game road trip tonight and Kuemper is likely to face the Panthers for the first time in his career.

The Wild have won three of four and 10 of their last 13 versus the Panthers, taking five of the past seven played in Florida.