DET-FLA 01:16:25

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Showing a sense of renewed confidence during their recent homestand, the Detroit Red Wings are looking to feed off that when they kick off their four-game road trip against the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday night.

Detroit (20-19-4; 44 points) and Florida (26-16-3; 55 points) will drop the puck at 7 p.m., with TV broadcast coverage of Thursday’s Atlantic Division clash airing exclusively on ESPN and radio coverage on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit.

After facing the Panthers, the Red Wings will battle the Tampa Bay Lightning (23-16-3; 49 points) on Saturday and the Dallas Stars (28-14-1; 57 points) on Sunday before wrapping up their road swing against the Philadelphia Flyers (19-20-6; 44 points) next Tuesday (Jan. 21).

“This is a huge test, four good teams,” Andrew Copp said. “Teams that we haven’t really faced yet this year and [aside from Philadelphia entering Thursday] are above us in the standings. This is going to be a really good measuring-stick road trip.”

Detroit is looking to respond after a 6-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, which ended its season-high seven-game winning streak. Two goals from Vladimir Tarasenko and one goal from Lucas Raymond saw the Red Wings pull within 4-3 just before the midway mark of the third period, but Detroit ultimately couldn’t find the equalizer.

“I think that’s the biggest thing, to learn from what happened [against San Jose],” Copp said. “I didn’t think we were horrible. We didn’t manage the game as properly as we wanted to, and then we made some big mistakes that ended up with the puck in the back of our net. We have a lot better, and I think we’ve shown that we have a lot better.”

Calling their most recent loss “a bump in the road,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan also discussed the significance of using Tuesday’s game as a learning experience.

“If we take the opportunity to learn from that bump and try and fix a few things -- we won’t get them all fixed --- but fix a few things, we can take advantage of a loss,” McLellan said. “If we don’t learn from it and we don’t fix it, it can compound. Then, we’ve really got to work at it. It’ll go one way or the other, but it doesn’t mean our tasks get any easier.”

Currently sitting second in the Atlantic Division, the Panthers are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games and snapped a two-game skid with a 2-1 shootout road win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

Sam Reinhart leads Florida in goals (27) and points (51) this season, while captain Aleksander Barkov has the most assists (27) and the third-most points (38). Second on the club in scoring is Matthew Tkachuk, who has 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists).

Goalies Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight have shared the crease for the Panthers this season, combining for a 2.73 goals-against average and .898 save percentage.

“We know the task in front of us is a tough one, this whole trip, but we’re only going to worry about that first game,” McLellan said. “Take it head-on and see where it takes us.”