PREVIEW: Red Wings visit Panthers for Saturday afternoon clash

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Detroit Red Wings will conclude the March slate with a Saturday matinee against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena.

Puck drop for the season series finale between the Red Wings (36-30-7; 79 points) and Panthers (46-22-5; 97 points) is set for 12:30 p.m., with broadcast coverage on Bally Sports Detroit Extra and the Red Wings Radio Network (WWJ 950 in Detroit). Detroit is 1-2-0 against Florida this season, most recently losing, 4-0, at Little Caesars Arena on March 2.

“We have a really tough opponent on the road and we have to find a way to get some points,” Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said. “It’s only going to be done with a good team game.”

Detroit saw its winless streak reach three games with a 4-0 shutout road loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Goalie James Reimer made 29 saves in the setback for Detroit, which enters Saturday two points behind the Washington Capitals, who have one game in hand, for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.

“We had our chances to score,” Olli Maatta said about Thursday's game. “We had a couple breakaways and some really good looks. I think if we score a couple early, that game is going to be different. But also, I think we took a step forward in our game. I know if we keep working on it and playing this way, we’re going to get results. We have to trust that.”

Dylan Larkin took a maintenance day on Friday and did not practice, but Lalonde said Detroit’s captain is expected to play against the Panthers. Patrick Kane (illness), who did not dress in Carolina, also did not skate Friday and is questionable for Saturday.

With nine regular-season games left, the Red Wings are still very much in the race for a spot in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Maatta said navigating this final stretch will not be easy, and Detroit must continue to play with a winning mentality.

“I think we have a great group of guys in the locker room,” Maatta said. “It doesn’t matter, young or older, I think everybody wants to win. You can feel it. I’ve felt it for the two years I’ve been here. The hunger is there. Obviously these games get intense and can be a little hectic sometimes, so I think the older guys calm us down a little bit in those moments.”

The Panthers fell to the New York Islanders, 3-2, on Thursday but clinched a postseason berth later that night when the Red Wings lost to the Hurricanes. Currently ranked second in the Atlantic Division, Florida boasts the NHL’s best defense (2.44 goals against per game), fifth-best power play (26 percent) and seventh-highest penalty kill (82 percent).

Sam Reinhart is tied for second in the NHL in goals (51) and leads the defending Eastern Conference champions in goals and points (81) this season. Matthew Tkachuk (23-56—79), Carter Verhaeghe (33-37—70) and captain Aleksander Barkov (19-50—69) round out the Panthers’ top-four point scorers.

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is putting together another Vezina Trophy-caliber season with a 2.41 goals-against average -- tied for first in the NHL -- along with a 32-16-3 record, .914 save percentage and four shutouts in 52 appearances.

“We struggle with Bob,” Lalonde said about Florida’s star netminder. “He’s a world-class goalie. Any goalie at the NHL level, especially elite goalies, you just got to take away a little more of their time and space."