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Florida Panthers Try to Continue Dominance of Red Wings Tonight

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Sasha Barkov celebrates a goal with Sam Reinhart during the third period of the Florida Panthers win over the Detroit Red Wings on March 30 in Sunrise. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)

 For the first time this season, the Florida Panthers will square off against the Detroit Red Wings tonight.



Over the past three seasons, Florida has owned the Red Wings — going 10-0-1.

As they say on Wall Street, ‘past performance is not indicative of future results.’

The Red Wings have been playing much improved hockey lately and head to Florida within a few points of a playoff position.

Last year, the Wings were eliminated from the playoffs on the season’s final day.

A tiebreaker with Washington made the difference.

Detroit ended their season with a dramatic shootout win over Montreal, only to learn that four minutes earlier, Washington defeated Philadelphia on a late T.J. Oshie goal.

It was a heartbreaking end for a team that showed occasional brilliance during the season.

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Lucas Raymond, at age 21, had a career year with 31 goals and 72 points.

Dylan Larkin, despite losing time to injury, managed 33 goals.

Our old friend, ex-Panther Alex Lyon, was stoic in goal, starting more than half the games and posting a .904 save percentage and 3.05 GAA for a team with defensive shortcomings.

The team started sluggish this year, but fortunes changed dramatically when Todd McLellan replaced Derek Lalonde as coach right after the Christmas break.

The Wings were 13-17-4 at the time of Lalonde’s firing; They are 7-2-0 under McLellan.

Detroit had won seven straight before losing 6-3 to San Jose on Tuesday.

The Red Wings have three solid offensive threats in Raymond, Larkin, and Alex Debrincat.

The Wings also have one of the top young defensemen in the NHL in 23-year-old Mo Seider, the Calder winner in 2021-22.

Patrick Kane, 36, is not what he used to be, but he still contributes with his share of goals and some neat playmaking.  

In a recent flash of brilliance, he was named NHL Third Star of the Week after scoring two goals with six points in three games.

In goal, Lyon and Cam Talbot share duties, with both showing stats that are not spectacular but respectable.

Both have better than .900 save percentages and sub-3 GAAs.

Lyon is currently sidelined with an uppe– body injury.

Ville Husso has been recalled from Grand Rapids of the AHL on an emergency basis.

Under McLellan, the team is an amazing 14-for-30 (46.7 percent) on the power play and is now third in the NHL at 28.1 percent.

At yesterday’s practice, before the team’s flight to Florida, McLellan was not overly concerned about the loss to San Jose.

“I thought we had a good practice. I didn’t expect anything different,” he said. “I would have been disappointed if it went the other way, but they came, and they worked. They’ve done that every day since we’ve been here. Now we have to translate that into a good effort in Florida.”

He said Lyon would be back with the team but didn’t indicate who would start against the Panthers.

ON DECK: GAME No. 46
DETROIT RED WINGS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
  • When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
  • Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
  • National TV: ESPN
  • Streaming: ESPN+
  • Radio: WPOW 96.5 FM-2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
  • Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL/Panthers App
  • Last Season: Florida won 3-1
  • This Season — At Detroit: April 6. At Florida: Thursday; April 10.
  • All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 39-19-7, 5 ties
  • Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Anaheim Ducks, 6 p.m.

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