The Panthers are set to face Detroit without their top two scorers as Florida's playoff hopes continue to dwindle.
The Florida Panthers haven’t played many games in Sunrise lately.
When Florida hosts the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena, it will be just the third home game in more than a month for the Panthers.
Florida is fresh off a 3-1 victory over those same Red Wings back on Friday night in Motown.
The victory was the first for the Panthers in their previous five outings, as the team has been struggling mightily during the second half of the season.
Since a stretch in late January that saw Florida win three straight games and six of eight, a run that had them three points back of a Wild Card spot, the Cats have nosedived.
Including Friday’s victory, Florida has gone 3-9-0 since that three-game winning streak, all but ending their hopes of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs and defending their back-to-back championships.
The Panthers will be a bit shorthanded on Tuesday.
Following their morning skate in Fort Lauderdale, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said Sam Reinhart would not play, after saying the day before that Brad Marchand would also be missing some time.
Maurice said Reinhart was dealing with some soft tissue issues and was trying to get ahead of the ailments.
With both Reinhart and Marchand missing, Florida will be without their top two offensive contributors, both in goals and in points.
Reinhart, who has played 11 more games than Marchand this season, leads the Panthers with 28 goals and 59 points. Marchand is behind him in both categories, accumulating 27 goals and 54 points this season.
For those wondering, next on the list is Sam Bennett, who has scored 23 goals and racked up 48 points while playing in the same amount of games, 63, as Reinhart.
In goal, Florida will start Daniil Tarasov against the Red Wings, Maurice confirmed.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Tuesday’s tussle with Detroit:
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Mackie Samoskevich
Jesper Boqvist – Luke Kunin – Vinnie Hinostroza
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Donovan Sebrango – Uvis Balinskis
Extras: Sam Reinhart, Brad Marchand, Cole Reinhardt
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Photo caption: Mar 6, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) scores on Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson (36) in the third period at Little Caesars Arena. (Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images)