The Florida Panthers (45-29-4) will welcome the Detroit Red Wings (36-34-7) to Amerant Bank Arena for the final meeting of the season between the pair of Atlantic Division foes, trying to avoid a season-series sweep.
A stout defensive effort and some timely saves from Sergei Bobrovsky helped the Panthers halt a five-game losing streak with a satisfying 3-1 victory over the division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Gustav Forsling opened the scoring and Eetu Luostarinen and Carter Verhaeghe each ended long goalless droughts. Aleksander Barkov returned to the lineup and in addition to helping blunt Toronto’s firepower, assisted on Verhaeghe’s empty-netter.
While the Cats were busy beating the Maple Leafs, the Red Wings saw their dim postseason hopes take a near-fatal blow thanks to a 4-1 loss to the red-hot Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre. Detroit trails the Canadiens for the final playoff spot in the east by eight points with just five games left to make up the difference. Cam Talbot did his best, stopping 17 of 19 shots, but he was out-goalied by former Panther Sam Montembeault.
- WHEN: 7 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps, FDSNDET
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 FM (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #LGRW, #DETvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Winging It In Motown
- SEASON SERIES: Game 3 of 3 (0-2)
- LAST MEETING: @DET 2, FLA 1 – (Recap) 4/6/2025
- NEXT MEETING: Playoffs or 2025-26 season
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (32-18-2 .907 / 2.42 5SO) Detroit: Talbot (20-18-4 .905 / 2.85 2SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Detroit
Thursday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- Chicago (22-46-10 54P) at BOSTON (32-38-9 73P) 7 p.m.
- BUFFALO (35-36-6 76P) at Columbus (35-33-9 79P) 7 p.m.
Idle: TOR (100P), TBL (97P), OTT (90P), MON (87P)