The league-leading Florida Panthers (40-16-2) will look to extend its winning streak to four games, and extract a bit of revenge when they visit the Detroit Red Wings (33-21-6) this afternoon in a nationally televised contest from Little Caesars Arena. Florida has gone a sizzling 13-3 since the Red Wings beat them 3-2 in overtime at Amerant Bank Arena on January 17. On Thursday, the Cats rallied from a goal down to edge the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in a shootout to capture all six available points during a three-game homestand. Sam Reinhart is second in the NHL with 41 goals after scoring on the power-play goal and shorthanded against the fading Habs. Sergei Bobrosvky is 8-1 in his last nine starts and hasn’t given up more than two goals in a game over that span.
Currently holding down Wild Card 1, the Red Wings are on pace to make their first postseason appearance since 2016, when they lost in the first round to the Tampa Bay Lightning. They come into today’s tilt, which concludes a three-game homestand, off a tough 5-3 loss to the desperate New York Islanders that halted a season-high, six-game winning streak. That torrid run included three victories (against Calgary, St. Louis and Washington) by a five-goal margin. Dylan Larkin leads Detroit with 26 goals and 54 points, while in-season signing Patrick Kane has amassed 31 points in 29 games and is on a ten-game point streak.
- WHEN: 3:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Little Caesars Arena – Detroit, MI
- ON THE TUBE: ABC, ESPN+
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #LGRW, #FLAvsDET, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Winging It In Motown
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 3 of 4 (1-0-1)
- LAST MEETING: DET 3, @FLA 2 (OT) – (Recap) 1/17/2024
- NEXT MEETING: March 30, 2024
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (29-11-2 .916 / 2.35 3SO) Detroit: Lyon (18-9-2 .912 / 2.74 1SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Detroit
Saturday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- Vegas (33-20-7 73P) at BUFFALO (28-28-4 60P) 7 p.m. (ESPN+, HULU)
- OTTAWA (25-30-3 53P) at Philadelphia (31-23-7 69P) 7 p.m.
- MONTREAL (23-28-9 55P) at TAMPA BAY (32-24-6 70P) 7 p.m.
- New York Rangers (40-17-3 83P) at TORONTO (34-17-8 72P) 7 p.m.
- BOSTON (35-12-14 84P) at New York Islanders (25-20-14 64P) 7:30 p.m.