Red Wings Aim to End Skid Against Dominant Panthers in Midweek Clash

The Red Wings look to string together their first lengthy winning streak of the season Wednesday as they host the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers. Detroit faces its toughest challenge yet as the Panthers enter with an impressive 3-1-0 record and are coming off a surprising loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Florida has historically dominated this rivalry, holding a commanding 23-4-1 record over the last 28 meetings, including a 6-1 run over their last seven games at Little Caesars Arena.

The Panthers will be confident heading into this game, expecting to bounce back behind the red-hot Brad Marchand, who at 37 years old is playing like a star with four points in four games. The Red Wings will rely on their top scorers, Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane, known as "Cat and Pat," each with four points in three games, to counter Florida’s firepower. This midweek clash promises a thrilling battle of offenses, sparking excitement among Detroit fans who sense this team could be different from years past.

With a pair of assists through the first three games of the season, rookie winger Emmitt Finnie has impressed early on and finds himself close to the top of the league in rookie scoring. As he's progressed, the rookies behind him in the lineup have seen a slower starts to the season with winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygård leading the team in hits but still hasn't found the scoresheet yet and ranks last on the team with a -3 rating. 

Axel Sandin-Pellikka was expected to be a more offensive blueliner but he also hasn't recorded a point yet and currently sits with -2 rating. However, the Swedish defenseman has proven to be a solid source of minutes as he's averaging the third-most minutes on the team (21:02). The rookies will still look for their first goal as a group on Wednesday while they look to repel an experienced Panthers team. 

Despite losing key forwards in Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk to injuries with lengthy recovery times, the Cats are still proving they have the depth to contend and win on any given night. Playoff scratches like Mackie Samoskevich and Evan Rodrigues both have three points each to start the season and have helped lift the Panthers' offense while others are still finding their footing. An example of this is recent Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett, who has just one point to start the season and will look to change that versus the Red Wings. 

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FLA ML (-143) | DET ML (+118)

FLA -1.5 (+165) | DET +1.5 (-200)

O/U 5.5 Goals

The two clubs don't usually produce high-scoring affairs with six or more goals in just seven of their last 23 matchups with the under hitting in three consecutive matchups when playing in Detroit. This will mean a big game out of Florida's star netminder Sergei Bobrovsky may be eminent but Detroit can respond with their own hot goaltender in Cam Talbot. 

The 37-year-old netminder has started off his season with two straight wins, including a 38-save performance on Monday in which he held the Maple Leafs to just two goals and single-handedly helped the Red Wings emerge with the victory. 

He’ll need to concentrate on containing the slumping Bennett, who’s aiming to record just his second point of the season. Bennett has had trouble against the Red Wings, going scoreless in three straight meetings and managing points in only four of his last 11 games versus Detroit since joining the Panthers. They will look to limit him once again while Detroit will hope to get more scoring out of their depth players. 

NHL veteran J.T. Compher is supposed to be a solid source of points in the middle of the Red Wings' lineup yet he has no points to start the season. He’ll aim to build on his strong showing from last April, when he scored against the Panthers in a tight 2-1 home win for the Red Wings. Compher will need to deliver a similar effort on Wednesday. 

Florida: Sergei Bobrovsky (VS DET: 28-7-2 record, 1.85 GAA, .935 SV% in 38 Games) 

Detroit: Cam Talbot (VS FLA: 10-6-1 record, 2.59 GAA, .924 SV% in 17 Games) 

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