Greer, Panthers complete sweep of Stars at Global Series Finland

TAMPERE, Finland -- The Florida Panthers leave Finland on top of the world.

The defending Stanley Cup champions faced another test and passed with flying colors, thanks in part to a brand-new member of the team, A.J. Greer.

The forward scored the go-ahead goal at 2:32 of the third period for the Panthers in their fifth straight win, 4-2 against the Dallas Stars at Nokia Arena on Saturday to sweep the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal.

Greer scored his first goal with the Panthers with a wrist shot off a face-off win by Tomas Nosek after coach Paul Maurice decided to keep his fourth line out after a stoppage.

“Coach put us out there on an offensive-zone draw, and [Nosek] is a great face-off guy,” said Greer, who was named the First Star. “He told me right before he was going to tie the guy up and come pick it up. So, I caught a step and kind of took it to the middle and went short side.”

Nine players had a point for Florida (9-3-1), which won 6-4 Friday in the first of two games here against a team that has reached the Western Conference Final in each of the past two seasons. Spencer Knight made 23 saves.

“As a fourth line, it’s always rewarding to get a goal, especially a game-winning goal,” Greer said. “But it was very special to get in Finland in such a big game like this. Just to cap off an amazing week, it was very special.”

Matt Duchene had a goal and an assist, and Casey DeSmith made 21 saves for Dallas (7-4-0), which was left looking for answers after the second straight loss here.

“It [stinks], I mean you know nice face-off for them and a good shot, and that’s the difference,” Duchene said. “It [stinks] to drop two here. It would have been nice to at least get a split, but we will get on the plane and be motivated to get back to North America and get going again.”

Each of Florida’s four Finnish players -- Aleksander Barkov, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola -- had at least one point at Global Series. Barkov, whose boyhood home sits in the shadow of Nokia Arena, had five (one goal, four assists), and a Finn figured in each of the Panthers’ first eight goals.

“Obviously, we like the way things went in the games and this whole trip was a special, special experience,” Barkov said. “We’re happy to get the wins and have a good time here.”

Barkov, the Panthers captain, was confident about his team, which showed its mettle in winning the Cup last season in a seven-game series against the Edmonton Oilers.

Now, his confidence is even more pronounced.

“We had a really good chemistry before, but it feels like spending so much time together with different activities; went to sauna, went to dinner, eating Finnish food together, like for some of the guys the first time,” he said. “That obviously makes your chemistry on the team better.

“I think the cherry on top was these two really hard games that we played against Dallas and coming up with the win in both games. It was amazing. It tells a lot about our team.”

Evan Rodrigues scored the first goal for the second straight game, redirecting a shot from Mikkola into the top far corner at 14:47 of the first period to give Florida a 1-0 lead.

Matthew Tkachuk made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 8:47 of the second period.

Dallas closed the gap to 2-1 at 11:22 when Evgenii Dadonov scored a power-play goal.

Duchene, who had his second straight two-point game, tied it 2-2 just 34 seconds later at 11:56 with his team-best seventh goal, depositing the rebound of a shot by Miro Heiskanen.

Sam Reinhart, who also had an assist, scored an empty-net goal at 19:00 of the third for the 4-2 final.

Maurice noted the game Friday was wide open as opposed to Saturday, which was tighter, more physical, more like a Stanley Cup Playoff game.

He liked how his team acquitted itself in the challenge.

“I thought we recovered well after the second [period],” Maurice said. “It just builds faith, constantly reinforcing what we’re trying to do.”

Each of the seven Finland-born players was on the ice to start the game; Stars forward Roope Hintz and defensemen Esa Lindell and Heiskanen joined Florida’s four for the opening face-off in a special moment.

Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said he will try to remember moments like the introductions featuring all the Finnish players, the country’s national anthem being sung earnestly by the sold-out crowd of 12,807 and the hospitality he and his team experienced everywhere they went during their week stay here and in Helsinki.

“That’s what I am going to remember,” he said. “I’m going to try and forget as quickly as possible about the two hockey games. I’ve got some lifetime memories of how we were treated here and some of the experiences we had as a group.”

NOTES: Reinhart has 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 13 games, the fewest required to reach 20 points in Panthers history. He is tied for the League lead with 10 goals and has nine points (six goals, three assists) in five NHL games outside of North America, the most by any player. … Heiskanen had an assist and led all skaters with 25:32 of ice time. … Hintz was the only Finn in these games to be held without a point. He had one shot on goal in 17:25 on Saturday.