Florida Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice speaks after a practice in Detroit on the injury status of Sam Bennett, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Evan Rodrigues. The road has not been particularly kind to the Florida Panthers so far this season. Through four games in other teams’ barns, the Panthers are just 1-2-1. On Thursday they’ll face a Detroit Red Wings squad looking to recapture whatever they had going during their first two weeks of the season. Detroit came out the gate like gangbusters, winning five straight games and holding a 5-1-1 record. It was the best seven-game start to a season by the Red Wings since they went an identical 5-1-1 all the way back in 2010-11. The spoked wheels have hit a couple bumps in the road since, and they carry a 6-3-1 record into Thursday’s matchup with the 4-3-1 Panthers. Detroit has been led by a potent top line of Dylan Larkin centering Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond. The trio has combined for 16 goals and 36 points through the team’s ten games, and DeBrincat is tied for the NHL lead in goals with nine. On the Florida side of the ice, Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov is expected to skate in his 672nd NHL game on Thursday, all with the team that drafted him second overall in 2013. That will move Barkov into sole possession of the top spot on Florida’s all-time games played list, passing longtime teammate Jonathan Huberdeau. Playing in his eleventh season, Barkov already holds several Panthers records, including most goals (245) and points (639) in franchise history. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] In goal for Florida on Thursday, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice is expected to roll with Sergei Bobrovsky once again. Bob has been extremely solid so far this season between the pipes for the Panthers, playing better than his 3-3-1 record, 2.87 goals against average and .903 save percentage would indicate, though to be fair, those numbers are nothing to sneeze at. It’s more a testament to how well Bobrovsky has performed through his first seven starts. Historically, Bobrovsky has fared quite well against the Red Wings. He holds a 24-6-1 career record when facing Detroit, along with a 1.87 GAA and .937 save percentage. Here are the projected lines and pairings for Thursday’s game in Detroit: Evan Rodrigues – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart Carter Verhaeghe – Anton Lundell – Matthew Tkachuk Ryan Lomberg - Eetu Luostarinen – Nick Cousins William Lockwood – Kevin Stenlund – Steven Lorentz Gus Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov Josh Mahura – Uvis Balinskis LATEST THN FLORIDA STORIES Practice notebook: Bennett 'not day-to-day,' Ekman-Larsson likely to play Thursday in Detroit [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/practice-notebook-bennett-not-day-to-day-ekman-larsson-likely-to-play-thursday-in-detroit] Panthers defenseman Gus Forsling could see integral role grow larger [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-defenseman-gus-forsling-could-see-integral-role-grow-larger] Introducing The Hockey News Archive – 76 Years of History [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/introducing-the-hockey-news-archive-76-years-of-history] Bruins Charlie McAvoy suspended 4 games for head shot to Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/bruins-charlie-mcavoy-suspended-4-games-for-head-shot-to-panthers-defenseman-oliver-ekman-larsson] Three takeaways: Top line good, head hits very bad, power play still struggling [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/three-takeaways-top-line-good-head-hits-very-bad-power-play-still-struggling-] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
