Time: 7:30 PM EST
Place: Little Caesars Arena
TV: FSD
Radio: 97.1 FM The Ticket // 1270 AM
Panthers Blog: Litter Box Cats
Haven’t we seen enough of these guys yet? By the time this series is over the Wings will have played the Panthers in six of their last twelve games. It’s basically been a playoff series with some exhibition games thrown in.
But the good news is that this stretch of hockey dominated by the Panthers hasn’t looked quite so much like the train wreck we saw early on in the season. In fact, since squaring off against the Cats on January 30th, the Wings have actually looked like a decent team that just can’t score. That will be the going theme for this series as well: can Detroit find a scoring touch? Defensively, the team has been quite sound. Besides a 5-1 pounding from Tampa, the Wings have not allowed more than three goals since January 30, which doesn’t sound great, but these have been winnable games. It’s a far cry from the 2019-20 season.
And what is there to say about Florida that we don’t know by now? They’re going to try smothering Larkin’s line in the neutral zone with a trap if they can, but Detroit will have the last change tonight, which will help alleviate that problem. If the Wings’ forecheck can get under Florida’s skin, Detroit will have a chance; Florida is playing with confidence and pacing the division right now, so the Red Wings will need to do something to disrupt the Panthers’ flow to the game. Just don’t frustrate them so much that a Panther takes a penalty. Sweet Mary, please don’t put us on the man-advantage tonight.