Red Wings-Panthers morning skate Tweets, game previews and game notes: Bobrovsky vs. Talbot; Fischer joins the Wings’ lineup

The 20-19-and-4 Detroit Red Wings face off against the 26-16-and-3 Florida Panthers this evening in an ESPN game (7 PM EST start), and the Panthers have already completed their morning skate at Amerant Bank Arena:

The Panthers have actually lost 2 of their past 3 games and 4 of their past 8, but they’re coming off a 2-1 shootout victory over New Jersey on Monday.

Here are tonight’s game notes:

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NHL.com’s “Morning Skate” previews tonight’s game as follows…

The Red Wings (2) and Panthers (8) have 10 combined players set to make an appearance at the 4 Nations Face-Off, including a pair of American stars in Dylan Larkin and Matthew Tkachuk. Larkin (18-20—38 in 43 GP) can become the first Red Wings skater to post four consecutive 20-goal seasons since Henrik Zetterberg (7 from 2005-06 – 2011-12), while Tkachuk will look to help Florida extend its point streak against Detroit to 14 games (12-0-1 since March 30, 2021) – its second-longest run versus a single opponent in franchise history (13-0-2 vs. PIT from 2001-02 – 2005-06).

And here’s NHL.com’s “On Tap“:

Detroit Red Wings at Florida Panthers (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SNP)

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin and Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, who will be teammates for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20, square off for the first time this season. Larkin has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in his past nine games. The Red Wings (20-19-4) had their seven-game winning streak end in a 6-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. Forward Lucas Raymond, who leads the Red Wings with 47 points (18 goals, 29 assists) in 43 games, has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a five-game point streak. Tkachuk has 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists) in 40 games, second on the Panthers behind Sam Reinhart with 51 points (27 goals, 24 assists) in 45 games. The Panthers (26-16-3) are 4-5-1 in their past 10 games.

Field Level Media also posted a game preview:

The Panthers, meanwhile, are already a confident bunch. They are coming off a 2-1 shootout win over the host New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, and the Panthers accomplished that feat with backup goalie Spencer Knight.

Florida, which trails first-place Toronto by just one point in the Atlantic Division entering Thursday, has not been dominant at home so far this season — just a 12-8-2 record.

Winning at home will surely be one point of emphasis for the Panthers, but also prevalent in the thinking of coach Paul Maurice will be his penalty-killing unit. On Tuesday, the Panthers killed off both their penalties. But in their previous five games, they had allowed seven power-play goals.

“Yeah, we talked a little bit about it,” Panthers forward Anton Lundell said. “We can’t win games from the penalty box.”

The Panthers for the past two games have missed standout defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who has been out due to an undisclosed injury.

On Thursday, the Panthers are expected to start their top goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky (18-10-2, 2.78 GAA, .899 save percentage).

Here’s MLive’s Tyler Kuehl with the Wings’ take:

Things were looking bright in Hockeytown. The Red Wings were riding high, building up a seven-game win streak, the franchise’s longest run in 13 years. However, things came crashing down on Tuesday night, when they lost to the team with one of the worst records in the NHL. The 6-3 loss to the Pacific Division-dwelling San Jose Sharks shows Detroit has a long way to go before people start penning them in as a playoff team, especially since a win would’ve kept them within striking distance of a playoff spot.

On the other side, the Panthers have not been playing the best hockey, by their standards. The defending Stanley Cup champions are coming into Thursday night after taking down the New Jersey Devils in a shootout on Tuesday, snapping a short two-game losing skid. However, things have not been all that sunny for Florida, as the team has lost three of its last five games and six of its last 10.

The Red Wings sit seventh in the Atlantic Division, four points back of the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers are second in the division, one point behind the first-place Toronto Maple Leafs.

This will be the first of three matchups this year between Florida and Detroit. The Cats went 3-0-1 against the Wings last season.

Everything’s done a little early in Florida, so the Wings hit the ice at 11:20 AM for their morning skate:

Also:

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

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