The Detroit Red Wings were not only defeated by the Florida Panthers, but they also lost team captain Dylan Larkin to what appeared to be a lower-body injury midway through the third period.
Sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division, the Detroit Red Wings are determined to prove that this March, a month they've heavily struggled in during the last three campaigns, will be different this time around.
But it's hard not to feel the listless feelings of the last three years creeping in after the way the club’s last two games have unfolded.
For the second consecutive game at Little Caesars Arena, the Red Wings dropped a contest against an opponent that had lost on the road the previous night before traveling to Detroit.
On Wednesday evening, it was the Vegas Golden Knights. And on Friday evening, it was the Florida Panthers, a team fighting for its playoff lives and which had lost its previous four games in a row, that dealt the Red Wings a disappointing loss.
Matthew Tkachuk, Dylan Larkin's Team USA teammate with whom he won a gold medal late last month, scored his sixth career hat-trick and first since 2024 in a 3-1 win over Detroit.
Even more concerning was that Larkin was injured midway through the third period after going down awkwardly on the ice. He slowly made his way back to the bench while hunched over, before heading immediately to the dressing room and did not return.
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Matthew Tkachuk scored the first of his three goals on the night after Michael Rasmussen turned the puck over in the corner. Carter Verhaeghe then sent a pass to a wide-open Tkachuk in front of the net, where he one-timed it past John Gibson.
The Red Wings knotted the score in the second period while enjoying a five-on-three advantage. Alex DeBrincat netted his 32nd goal of the season after he batted the puck out of the air off a rebound from the boards past goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
However, throughout the game, Bobrovsky looked more like the goaltender who helped lead the Panthers to consecutive Stanley Cup titles over the past two springs than the struggling netminder who entered the game with a goals-against average north of 3.00.
He turned aside everything Detroit threw at him and also caught a break when a shot from Dylan Larkin dribbled through his legs and slid just inches wide of the post. Minutes later, he made another stop on the goal line as Larkin tried to jam the puck in from the side of the net.
He also robbed Patrick Kane's deflection of a pass from DeBrincat from in tight.
Tkachuk scored his second goal of the game early in the third period on the power-play, deflecting Sam Reinhart's shot past Gibson after a failed clearing attempt by defenseman Albert Johansson.
With Gibson pulled for the extra attacker, Tkachuk completed the hat trick by firing the puck into the open net from his own defensive zone.
Bobrovsky finished the game with 28 saves, while Gibson countered with 20 saves.
The Red Wings, who acquired defenseman Justin Faulk from the St. Louis Blues on Friday, expect the veteran defenseman to join them in New Jersey for their next game against the Devils on Sunday.
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