The Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers face off this evening (7 PM start on ESPN/97.1 FM), and the Red Wings’ morning skate revealed that Sergei Bobrovsky and Cam Talbot will face off in the crease, with Christian Fischer returning to the Red Wings’ lineup.
After the morning skates, DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted a game preview…
Detroit (20-19-4; 44 points) and Florida (26-16-3; 55 points) will drop the puck at 7 p.m., with TV broadcast coverage of Thursday’s Atlantic Division clash airing exclusively on ESPN and radio coverage on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit.
After facing the Panthers, the Red Wings will battle the Tampa Bay Lightning (23-16-3; 49 points) on Saturday and the Dallas Stars (28-14-1; 57 points) on Sunday before wrapping up their road swing against the Philadelphia Flyers (19-20-6; 44 points) next Tuesday (Jan. 21).
“This is a huge test, four good teams,” Andrew Copp said. “Teams that we haven’t really faced yet this year and [aside from Philadelphia entering Thursday] are above us in the standings. This is going to be a really good measuring-stick road trip.”
Detroit is looking to respond after a 6-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, which ended its season-high seven-game winning streak. Two goals from Vladimir Tarasenko and one goal from Lucas Raymond saw the Red Wings pull within 4-3 just before the midway mark of the third period, but Detroit ultimately couldn’t find the equalizer.
“I think that’s the biggest thing, to learn from what happened [against San Jose],” Copp said. “I didn’t think we were horrible. We didn’t manage the game as properly as we wanted to, and then we made some big mistakes that ended up with the puck in the back of our net. We have a lot better, and I think we’ve shown that we have a lot better.”
Calling their most recent loss “a bump in the road,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan also discussed the significance of using Tuesday’s game as a learning experience.
“If we take the opportunity to learn from that bump and try and fix a few things — we won’t get them all fixed — but fix a few things, we can take advantage of a loss,” McLellan said. “If we don’t learn from it and we don’t fix it, it can compound. Then, we’ve really got to work at it. It’ll go one way or the other, but it doesn’t mean our tasks get any easier.”
As did FloridaPanthers.com’s Jameson Olive:
“I think it’s about ourselves and playing our game,” captain Aleksander Barkov said when asked about the divisional clash with Detroit. “We’ve been finding it the last few games. I think just play the same way, and keep building on that.”
Matching a career high with his 10th goal of the season, Jesper Boqvist netted the lone goal for the Panthers in regulation against the Devils, breaking the ice in a very tight third period.
In the shootout, Barkov and Anton Lundell each scored for the Panthers, while Spencer Knight, who made 26 saves in regulation and overtime, stopped two of three Devils shooters to lock in the win.
Owning an 18-10-2 record, Sergei Bobrovsky will get the start against the Red Wings. In his career against Detroit, Bobrovsky boasts an eye-popping .938 save percentage.
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Since hiring Todd McLellan to replace Derek Lalonde as head coach on Dec. 26, Detroit is 7-2-0.
“I think Todd’s done a great job of almost harnessing them a little bit to a defensive game,” Maurice said. “Their expected goals since he’s taken over is number one in the league at even-strength against. They’re a built, in a little way, like us. They’ve got some skill, some high-end guys up front that can make plays, but they certainly collapse in their own end and put a way bigger attention to detail on defense.”
Fresh off a two-goal performance against the Sharks, Vladimir Tarasenko, who helped the Panthers capture last year’s Stanley Cup after coming over from the Ottawa Senators at the trade deadline, has notched 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in his first season with Detroit. This game will mark Tarasenko’s first against the Panthers since winning the Cup.
“He was important for us,” Barkov said. “Obviously he’d been in the Cup Final and won the Cup. He brought that to us, that veteran leadership. He worked really hard. It was fun to watch him in practice and in the games with how hard he shoots the puck and how hard he works still. Just an unbelievable teammate. He brought everything to us.”
