The Detroit Red Wings needed to rebound from Wednesday night’s loss to the Vegas Golden Knights as Detroit began an extended home-and-then-a-game-between-and-home series with the Florida Panthers on Friday night.
The Panthers lost to Columbus on Thursday evening, so the Wings hoped to pounce upon Florida in a back-to-back situation.
On Friday at Little Caesars Arena, the Red Wings slipped up in terms of their attention to detail, and surrendered a 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers. John Gibson was a stalwart in stopping 20 of 22 shots against (Tkachuk’s hatty was an empty-netter), but the Panthers out-worked, out-ground and out-hustled Detroit…
And if Dylan Larkin is injured from his trip/spear/fall that happened halfway through the 3rd period, the Wings are in a world of hurt.
Larkin leaves hurt after a weird fall – skate slipped and made him do the splits. Seemed to be in some pain, have to hope nothing is torn… #LGRW pic.twitter.com/lUuUDxY1lF
— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) March 7, 2026
McLellan says Dylan “got crumpled up there,” is getting checked out, doesn’t have long term concern but needs to be evaluated
— Rachel Hopmayer (@rachelhopmayer) March 7, 2026
McLellan says they don’t think it’s going to be long-term for Larkin, but obviously still needs to be fully assessed
— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) March 7, 2026
McLellan says he doesn't think Dylan Larkin will be long term, but added he's "In the back" and still needs to be looked at.
— Jennifer Hammond (@SidelineHammer) March 7, 2026
PREGAME: John Gibson and Sergei Bobrovsky led their respective teams out onto the ice at the Pizzarena…
L G R W 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/8taQlliZPC
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 6, 2026
FloridaPanthers.com’s Jameson Olive posted the Cats’ lineup…
#FlaPanthers lines vs. Red Wings
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) March 6, 2026
Rodrigues – Lundell – Reinhart
Verhaeghe – Bennett – Tkachuk
Greer – Luostarinen – Marchand
Boqvist – Nosek – Samoskevich
Forsling – Ekblad
Mikkola – Balinskis
Sebrango – Kulikov
Bobrovsky
Tarasov
The Panthers posted their starters…
How we're lining up ⤵️
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) March 7, 2026
🥅 Bobrovsky vs. Gibson pic.twitter.com/vVdCqPIFu2
And the Red Wings posted their lineup shortly thereafter:
Our lineup vs. Florida ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/lur8QORhOQ
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 6, 2026
The Wings unveiled a video commemorating the last Cup won at Joe Louis Arena and the transition to LCA as well:
The Next Flight. @meijer | #LGRW pic.twitter.com/VPPLhlFNpV
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 7, 2026
1ST PERIOD:
The teams dressed the following starters and lineups:

Jacob Bernard-Docker set up Emmitt Finnie for a breakaway chance with a superb stretch pass, but Bobrovsky made a fine stop…
big early stop for bob pic.twitter.com/xQjLLVDxh7
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) March 7, 2026
GOAL: Off a weird board battle to the left of the Red Wings’ goal, where Michael Rasmussen lost the puck, Carter Verhaeghe spotted both Ben Chiarot and Albert Johansson south of the Wings’ goal line, Verhaeghe centered the puck to an un-checked Matthew Tkachuk in the slot, bang bang, top shelf, 1-0 Florida…
Sweet feed from Swaggy to set up Tkachuk's goal. pic.twitter.com/nYS2QfkfDv
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) March 7, 2026
Matthew Tkachuk opens the scoring in Detroit 🚨
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 7, 2026
📺: Panthers 🆚 Red Wings live on SNE or stream on Sportsnet+ pic.twitter.com/PTBZb4zaTn
TKACHING 💰 pic.twitter.com/xMjLibm7oM
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) March 7, 2026
Florida 1, Detroit 0: Tkachuk (6) from Verhaeghe (27) at 11:06 1st period.
PENALTY: Carter Verhaeghe was called for slashing at 19:10 of the 1st period.
After the 1st pic.twitter.com/H9TdPLtNOP
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 7, 2026
1st period stats:
— George Malik (@georgemalik) March 7, 2026
Shots in the 1st 8-6 Detroit;
Detroit 50 seconds into their PP.
Shot attempts actually 22-13 Detroit;
Hits 10-3 Florida;
Giveaways 3-1 Florida;
Takeaways 4-3 Detroit;
Blocks 9-3 Florida;
FO's 8-6 Detroit (57%). pic.twitter.com/bCzJEW1tr2
2ND PERIOD:
Detroit began the 2nd period with 1:10 of PP time.
They did not convert.
PENALTY: Patrick Kane sat for tripping at 2:02 of the 2nd period.
Patrick Kane gets 2 minutes for tripping… 🧐 pic.twitter.com/MsqQmXYzKG
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) March 7, 2026
Detroit killed the penalty.
PENALTY: Anton Lundell got tagged for interference at 9:58 of the 2nd.
PENALTY: Detroit got 1:32 of a 5 on 3 as Anton Forsling sat at 10:28 for tripping…
GOAL: Off a Dylan Larkin faceoff win, Patrick Kane shanked a puck wide of the goal, but the puck bounced off the back boards right to Alex DeBrincat, and DeBrincat smacked the puck home.
CAT ON THE POWER PLAY!! pic.twitter.com/kDmFIFXZqH
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 7, 2026
DeBrincat auditioning for the @Tigers, shows off some excellent hand-eye and bats the puck out of the air for the power play goal. 🚨
— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) March 7, 2026
200th point as a Red Wing. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/JMROELR7xw
That's baseball. pic.twitter.com/l1FT5ZTIjA
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 7, 2026
Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat combined on the same goal for the 203rd time. The only U.S.-born teammates to factor on more goals together are Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller (207).
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) March 7, 2026
Watch now in 🇨🇦 (@TVASports), 🌍: https://t.co/Mr20yNqXMd https://t.co/qrMqcodWho
Florida 1, Detroit 1: DeBrincat (33) from Kane (25) and Larkin (27) at 10:56 2nd.
PENALTY: Jacob Bernard-Docker was called for hooking with 58.3 seconds remaining in the 2nd/at 19:01 thereof. Florida headed to the PP.
After the 2nd pic.twitter.com/DPg6mAOuEN
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 7, 2026
2nd stats:
— George Malik (@georgemalik) March 7, 2026
Shots in the 2nd 9-4 Detroit, shots 17-10 Detroit overall.
Wings 1-for-4 in 4:30 of PP time; Florida 0-for-2 in 2:59.
Shot attempts 43-23 Detroit;
Hits 24-11 Florida;
Giveaways 8-5 Florida;
Takeaways 4-3 Detroit;
Blocks 11-7 Florida;
FO's 19-11 DET (63%). pic.twitter.com/8v0QC58pqG
3RD PERIOD:
GOAL: Matthew Tkachuk was the beneficiary of a weird bounce as Albert Johansson’s clearing attempt was blocked by Brad Marchand, he sent the puck to Sam Reinhart, who shot the puck, and Matthew Tkachuk shot it into the net past Gibson.
Tkachuk's 2nd goal of the game puts us on hat trick watch. pic.twitter.com/IZ6ewzlJwH
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) March 7, 2026
Teamwork makes the dream work 🙌 pic.twitter.com/wSNhtyXuWA
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) March 7, 2026
Florida 2, Detroit 1: Tkachuk (7) from Reinhart (31) and Marchand (27) at 35 seconds of the 3rd, PPG.
PENALTY: Simon Edvinsson got called for tripping at 0:51 of the 3rd.
The Wings killed the penalty.
This was infuriatingly close…
B🚫B!!! pic.twitter.com/tQHDZ3BEMD
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) March 7, 2026
As was this…
Bob doing Bob things 🧱🚔 pic.twitter.com/he9PZfwk5w
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) March 7, 2026
INJURY: Dylan Larkin either got speared, did the splits, hurt his knee, pulled his groin, or something else…
Larkin leaves hurt after a weird fall – skate slipped and made him do the splits. Seemed to be in some pain, have to hope nothing is torn… #LGRW pic.twitter.com/lUuUDxY1lF
— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) March 7, 2026
PENALTY: Florida was called for a bench minor for too many men on the ice with 5:21 left in the 3rd/14:39 elapsed.
Detroit didn’t score on the PP.
GOALIE PULL: Detroit pulled Gibson with 2:10 remaining…
GOAL: Matthew Tkachuk scored his hat trick marker at 18:08 of the 3rd.
Florida 3, Detroit 1: Tkachuk (8) unassisted at 18:08.
GOALIE PULL: Detroit pulled Gibson again…
And nothing transpired.
Final pic.twitter.com/jYB6FSS5KZ
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 7, 2026
STATISTICS: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:


FINAL STATS from Detroit's 3-1 loss to Florida:
— George Malik (@georgemalik) March 7, 2026
Shots in the 3rd period 13-10 Florida, shots 28-23 Detroit overall.
PP 1-for-5 in 6:30 for DET, 1-for-3 in 5:34 for FLA;
Shot attempts 69-46 Detroit;
Hits 29-11 Florida;
Giveaways 14-12 Florida;
Takeaways 5-4 Detroit;
Blocks… pic.twitter.com/S9zNCDbJeF
INDIVIDUALLY…
— George Malik (@georgemalik) March 7, 2026
Detroit was -11. Johansson, Kane, DeBrincat -2, Chiarot, JvR, Rasmussen, Edvinsson, Kasper -1.
1G DeBrincat, 1A Kane, Larkin.
4 shots + 9 attempts for Raymond, 4 shots + 12 attempts for Larkin, 3 shots + 8 attempts for DeBrincat;
2 hits for Johansson,… https://t.co/W25SgyqCl8