PREVIEW: Red Wings begin back-to-back set in Florida, battle Panthers on Monday

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Kicking off their road-heavy November slate with a back-to-back set in the Sunshine State, the Detroit Red Wings will first take on the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday night.

“We’ll have our hands full in these next two, but we’ll take them on one at a time,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “Florida’s real confident right now. They play a very aggressive pinch game, and we’re going to have to be able to start well and handle that.”

Puck drop for the first of four matchups between these Atlantic Division foes this season is set for 7 p.m. ET, with broadcast coverage on Detroit SportsNet and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit). In just 10 days, Detroit (6-5-3; 15 points) will be right back at Amerant Arena to face Florida (8-4-2; 18 points).

“It’s a good test for us,” Justin Faulk said. “(These are) fun games. You like to play teams that have a little bit of swagger and know what they’re doing out there. It’s a team that doesn’t really break. You have to play the long game against them, because they’re comfortable doing it against us.”

The Red Wings are hoping to put together a more complete performance after letting two separate two-goal leads slip away in an eventual 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. Detroit’s four goals came courtesy of J.T. Compher, Keegan Kolesar, Lucas Raymond and Emmitt Finnie.

“We’ve dealt with the St. Louis game already, which is a good thing for us,” McLellan said. “We didn’t let it slide. We met and talked about it – want to see some things change in those situations again. It was a strange game because we played so well for so long and then gave it back, but we’ll keep moving forward.”

Like his head coach, Faulk pointed out that Saturday’s game – the finale of a quick two-game homestand for Detroit – can be viewed as an important learning lesson.

“To be honest, I don’t know if it necessarily needs to be flushed,” Faulk said. “It’s something we can learn from and grow as a group to try and learn to finish games. That should stay. That should be in the back of our minds, that we want to be in those positions where we’re up in the third period and know how to close those games out.”

Faulk, 34, has six points in 14 games this season. McLellan said the veteran defenseman has been a valuable presence in many ways for a squad that’s working hard to establish its identity and build consistency early on this season.

“There’s the on-ice part, which I feel has been real effective,” McLellan said. “He’s provided offense, which we thought he would. He defends fairly well and a bit of a calming influence on the players he plays with. Generally, he’s been with a young defenseman and he’s handled himself well. Then there’s the off-ice part, the leadership. Coming from different programs, he’s got a lot to offer. He’s willing to speak his mind, and share with everybody what he’s seeing and thinking. I think he’s impacted some change in our organization, so there’s a lot of value in that.”

The Panthers enter this Atlantic Division matchup having won three games in a row, most recently earning a 5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. Matthew Tkachuk leads Florida in points (20) and is tied with Seth Jones, who has the second-most points (18), for first in assists (16). Third on the club in scoring is Brady Tkachuk, who has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists).

“It’s a good test for us to put a full 60 minutes together,” Faulk said. “A good start is important, but we know they can hang around until the end.”