The Florida Panthers will look to bounce back from their first defeat of the season when they visit the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.
It’s the front half of Florida’s first back-to-back set of the season, which ends on Thursday in New Jersey against the Devils.
First thing’s first, though, as the Panthers will try to avoid a second straight slow start after dropping their previous outing in Philly.
During their three seasons under Head Coach Paul Maurice, Florida has been a team that has made quick adjustments and avoided falling into any extended funks.
We’ll see how they fare in that regard this week, as the Panthers try to get back on track despite playing with a slightly lesser lineup due to the injuries to Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Tomas Nosek and Dmitry Kulikov.
As for the Red Wings, they’re hunting a third straight victory after sweeping a home-and-home with the Toronto Maple Leafs for their first two wins of the young season.
Over past several years, Florida has seen a good mount of success in the Motor City.
Dating back to January of 2021, the Panthers hold an impressive 9-2-0 record at Little Cesars Arena. Florida has outscored the Red Wings 38-17 during that span.
One Panthers player who has found success against Detroit over the course of his career is Brad Marchand.
The veteran winger has racked up 19 goals and 44 points in 45 career games against the Red Wings.
Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to get the start in goal after winning each of this first three appearances for the Panthers last week.
For his efforts, Bob was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Week, sporting an impressive 1.67 goals against average and .925 save percentage to go with his 3-0-0 record.
The game will also be a bit of a recent homecoming for new Panthers defenseman Jeff Petry.
During the past two seasons, Petry played 117 games in a Red Wings sweater, logging four goals and 32 points during his time in Detroit.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Wednesday’s matchup in Motown:
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich – Evan Rodrigues – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Luke Kunin – Jonah Gadjovich
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry
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Photo caption: Apr 6, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell (15) scores a goal as Detroit Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot (39) tends the net during the third period at Little Caesars Arena. (Tim Fuller-Imagn Images)