PREVIEW: Red Wings cap brief two-game homestand with Atlantic Division clash against Panthers on Friday

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings will face off against the Florida Panthers twice in a five-day span, first hosting the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions at Little Caesars Arena on Friday night.

“You got to take care of the games at home,” Lucas Raymond said. “Try to build momentum off the crowd, especially this time of the year. We feel really good about our game in here and it’s about putting a product on the ice. Excited for tonight against a really good hockey team.”

The two Atlantic Division clubs will drop the puck at 7 p.m., with broadcast coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit) as well as NHL Network. After Friday’s game, the Red Wings (35-20-7; 77 points) and Panthers (30-29-3; 63 points) will continue their four-game regular-season series in Florida next Tuesday.

Coming off Wednesday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, Emmitt Finnie -- like Raymond -- said Detroit wants to tap into the energy of its home crowd and finish this brief two-game homestand with a strong performance.

“We have the best fans in the League,” said Finnie, who has one goal in each of his last two games. “It shows every night that we’re in here. I love playing at home and being in front of this crowd. You want to give them something to cheer for.”

Although the Red Wings missed out on that extra point, Finnie highlighted that their three-goal first period against the Golden Knights showed what happens when they stick to an aggressive style of play.

“I thought we started great against Vegas,” Finnie said. “Yes, we gave up the first goal, but we responded great with three of our own after that. I felt like we were controlling the play for most of the first half of that game, but we sat back a little bit late in the second and third periods. We got to get back to that hunt mentality that we had in the first half of that and play for a full 60 minutes.”

Playing with that urgency and mentality is something David Perron, whom Detroit acquired via trade from the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, does quite well. The veteran forward is a familiar face in the Red Wings’ dressing room, having logged 103 points (41 goals, 62 assists) in 158 games with the club from 2022-24.

“He’s been around this League for a long time,” Raymond said. “He was good for us when he was here, so it’s fun to have him back.”

Sidelined since Jan. 20 due to sports hernia surgery, Perron recorded 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 49 games with the Senators this season.

“He’s in Ottawa right now,” McLellan said. “Their team is on the road, so he’s been rehabbing and skating there. There are things that have to happen outside of my realm -- immigration and stuff like that – so people are working on that. Not exactly sure what his arrival date or time is, but as soon as possible we’ll get him here.”

The injury-riddled Panthers are 10 points behind the Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conference’s second Wild-Card spot and at the bottom of the Atlantic Division. They also saw their losing streak reach four straight games with a 4-2 setback to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday night.

“This is still a hell of a hockey club we’re going to play against,” McLellan said. “They’ve gotten the wrong end of the stick on some injuries. Poor Barkov in Training Camp on Day 1, nobody planned that. Tkachuk with his wear and tear from the playoffs, he wasn’t ready to go. Jones is a tremendous player. You start taking guys like that out of your lineup and it gets thinned quick.”

Sam Reinhart (58 points on 28 goals and 30 assists) and Brad Marchand (53 points on 27 goals and 26 assists) are ranked first and second respectively on Florida’s points leaderboard, while netminder Sergei Bobrovsky has a 22-19-1 record with a 3.13 goals-against average and .873 save percentage with three shutouts in 43 games this season.

“They’re still a dangerous team,” McLellan added. “You look at the scorers that they have, their top five or six are all sitting in that 60, 50-point range. There’s not a lot of teams that have that much. They’re still proud. They’re a competitive group. They can score.”