Apr 6, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Florida Panthers right wing Mackie Samoskevich (25) and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Justin Holl (3) battle for the puck during the first period at Little Caesars Arena. (Tim Fuller-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/b0a33f96-0d73-4efe-8b3b-998200161e81.jpeg] Apr 6, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Florida Panthers right wing Mackie Samoskevich (25) and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Justin Holl (3) battle for the puck during the first period at Little Caesars Arena. (Tim Fuller-Imagn Images) The Florida Panthers left Detroit following a rough four-game road trip in which they only were able to come up with a single point in the standings. Florida has lost five straight games over the past couple weeks, which is frustrating on its own, but its not like the Panthers have been playing bad hockey. Several players have been battling different injuries and ailments, leading to inconsistencies in the roster but not so much on the ice. That's one area that we'll touch on as we go through Sunday's takeaways: MAKING THE BEST OF IT Heading into Sunday's game against the Red Wings, Florida was already playing without Matthew Tkachuk, Sasha Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Dmitry Kulikov and Nico Sturm. The team then also scratched Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Gustav Forsling. Still, the stingy Panthers have kept games close, but they've been lacking in the scoring department, lighting the lamp just seven times during the five-game skid. "It was good considering we're kind of measuring ourselves right now on what we give up, regardless of who's in the lineup," said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. STRUCTURALLY SOUND The bedrocks of what make the Panthers such a strong defensive club that is so difficult to play against are the things that Maurice is looking to see the most out of his team right now. With so much fluidity regarding the roster, the key is for each player to have a perfect understand of the systems, knowing both where they need to be and where their teammates should be. That's all happening, and it's why the coaching staff is still feeling alright about how things are going, despite the consecutive losses. "It's all structural for us," said Maurice. "Like we're not scoring goals, I don't care. We want to be in tight games. That's fine. The game in Montreal, we got a 2-1 lead, that'll never happen again the way that one ended. The game in Toronto, I'm very, very pleased with. It was tight. I felt the same way about Ottawa. We put up 83 shot attempts to 40. I didn't feel but in any of those games that we gave up much off the rush, minus the Toronto (game) because they scored on one (rush) and they scored one after they had, but even with that, we're talking about two or three events, we're not talking about a whole bunch. So if we can maintain our structure right now, then we will look at this as being a really good thing for us, because that's all we're talking about is the hard parts of our defensive structure, and it's been good to the point that we can survive in a game." STRONG DEBUT FOR PULJUJARVI Playing his first game in a Panthers sweater, former fourth overall pick Jesse Puljujarvi held his own, The 26-year-old appeared to perform well in Florida's systems, showing up around the puck often and making an impact with his physicality. He's listed at 6-foot-4, 201 lbs. and known for his speed, so he's certainly got the specs to show out well under Maurice. Before being called up to Florida, Puljujarvi had logged five goals and nine points in an 11-game span. Sunday against the Red Wings, played 13:01 over 17 shifts, including some shifts on Florida's second power play unit. He finished with five shots on seven attempts and a team-leading six hits. "I liked what he did tonight," said Maurice. "Five shots on goal, six hits, big man, okay. Right hand shot, we don't have a lot of those. There are players that can adapt their game to the way we play, and sometimes they kind of reinvent themselves, but I like those two ideas, because you will have a mindset of getting pucks to the net, and he's heavy, and if you're throwing six hits at his size, you're going to be hard for defenseman to handle, so I liked his start a lot." 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