At the Rink: Red Wings at Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. -- All-Star goalie Roberto Luongo will be back in the lineup Thursday when the Florida Panthers face the Detroit Red Wings at BB&T Center (7:30 p.m. ET, NHLN-US).

Luongo missed the past six games after sustaining a shoulder injury in a 3-2 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 3. After leaving the game following the first period and going to the hospital for tests, Luongo went back in for the last 9:08 of the third period after backup Al Montoya sustained a groin injury.

"[Luongo] has been our MVP all year long," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said after the morning skate. "He's been a great player for us and a great leader and a great character. He's going to come in tonight and try to do his best. He'll work hard and compete hard and I'm sure the guys will be excited to see him."

The Panthers went 3-2-1 during Luongo's absence. Dan Ellis was solid in net after being called up from the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League, with a 2.13 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in the six games.

Ellis lost his past two starts but the issue wasn't his performance; rather it was the Panthers' inability to convert its many scoring chances. They lost 2-1 against the New York Rangers on Sunday despite a 39-34 shot advantage, and then lost 3-2 at home against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday in a game where they had a 43-25 shot advantage, including a 21-4 edge in the third period.

"I just think we've got to do what we've been doing and really find ways to get it in the back of the net," center Nick Bjugstad said. "Eventually with all the shots we're getting it should go in. But we faced some good goaltenders. I think we've been playing really well; we don't really need to change much other than putting them in the back of the net."

Florida (31-25-14) began the day seven points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, and also trail the Ottawa Senators by three points. Boston plays at Ottawa on Thursday.

Detroit (38-19-11), which did not have a morning skate, is six points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division but has three games in hand.

The Red Wings have lost four of their past six but are coming off a 5-1 road victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

Center Pavel Datsyuk will not play; he's out for at least the next two games because of a lower-body injury. However, the Red Wings were expected to have forward Darren Helm back Thursday after a seven-game absence because of an oblique injury.

Florida won two of the first three games against Detroit this season. All three were decided by one goal and won by the road team.

Detroit center Stephen Weiss, who spent 10 seasons with the Panthers, leads both teams with four points in the three games, but he is expected to be a healthy scratch Thursday.

Here are the projected lineups:

RED WINGS

Justin Abdelkader - Henrik Zetterberg - Gustav Nyquist

Tomas Tatar - Riley Sheahan - Darren Helm

Erik Cole - Luke Glendening - Teemu Pulkkinen

Drew Miller - Joakim Andersson - Tomas Jurco

Jonathan Ericsson - Niklas Kronwall

Danny DeKeyser - Kyle Quincey

Brendan Smith - Marek Zidlicky

Petr Mrazek

Jimmy Howard

Scratched: Jakub Kindl, Daniel Cleary, Stephen Weiss

Injured: Pavel Datsyuk (lower body), Jonas Gustavsson (head), Johan Franzen (concussion)

PANTHERS

Jonathan Huberdeau - Aleksander Barkov - Jaromir Jagr

Brandon Pirri - Nick Bjugstad - Brad Boyes

Jussi Jokinen - Dave Bolland - Vincent Trocheck

Tomas Kopecky - Derek MacKenzie - Scottie Upshall

Brian Campbell - Aaron Ekblad

Willie Mitchell - Erik Gudbranson

Dmitry Kulikov - Alex Petrovic

Roberto Luongo

Dan Ellis

Scratched: Shawn Thornton, Jimmy Hayes, Steven Kampfer, Sam Brittain

Injured: Al Montoya (groin)

Status report: Weiss has been scratched three of the past four games. ... Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said Wednesday that Mrazek would be in net against the Panthers and Howard would get the start against the Lightning. ... Hayes, who has gone 14 games without a goal, will be a healthy scratch for the first time since Jan. 31. ... Gallant said Montoya has yet to resume skating but has begun doing off-ice work.

Who’s hot: Zidlicky has one goal and four assists during a three-game point streak. ... In his past five starts Mrazek has allowed one goal three times and has one shutout. ... Pirri has a three-game goal streak and 13 goals in his past 18 games.