The struggling Florida Panthers (46-22-5) look to get back in the win column when they host the Detroit Red Wings (36-30-7) this afternoon at Amerant Bank Arena. Florida is cold as ice right now, going 1-5-1 in their last seven games. The cold snap has also seen the Cats drop four straight games on home ice, including Thursday night’s 3-2 defeat to the New York Islanders. Aleksander Barkov scored a goal and added an assist in the loss to become the first player in franchise history to reach the 700-point plateau.
Despite going 3-6-1 over their last ten games and losing three straight, the Red Wings are still in the thick of the postseason chance, trailing the Washington Capitals by two points for the second wild card. After opening a five-game road trip with a 1-0 loss in Nashville, Detroit again came up a goal short in a 4-3 overtime loss to Washington before getting blanked again, 4-0 by the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night in Raleigh.
- WHEN: 12:30 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports DETX, NHL Network
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #LGRW, #DETvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Winging It In Motown
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 4 of 4 (2-0-1)
- LAST MEETING: FLA 4, @DET 0 – (Recap) 3/2/2024
- NEXT MEETING: Playoffs or 2024-25 regular season
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (32-16-3 .914 / 2.41 4SO) Detroit: Lyon (18-16-3 .904 / 3.07 2SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Detroit
Saturday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- TORONTO (41-22-9 91P) at BUFFALO (35-34-5 75P) 7 p.m. (ESPN+, HULU)
- Carolina (46-21-7 99P) at MONTREAL (28-32-13 68P) 7 p.m.
- New York Islanders (31-26-15 77P) at TAMPA BAY (40-25-7 87P) 7 p.m.
- OTTAWA (32-36-4 68P) at Winnipeg (44-23-6 94P) 7 p.m.
- BOSTON (42-17-15 99P) at Washington (36-27-9 81P) 7 p.m.