George Richards, FHN Publisher
I know it sounds odd, but the Florida Panthers will indeed move from one series to another when they visit the Detroit Red Wings this weekend.
Florida, of course, had four of its first six scheduled games postponed.
The Panthers, who split a pair of shootout games in Columbus, have started out their season with three wins and seven of the available seven points.
Now they go to Detroit, a place where they have enjoyed more than a fair share of success over the past few seasons.
Not only has Florida won its past six against the Wings, but it has at least a point in each of the past eight (7-0-1).
Over the past seven seasons, the Panthers have won 19 of 28 against the Red Wings — including 11 of 13 in Detroit both at Joe Louis Arena and Little Caesars.
Florida has not lost in Detroit since Jan. 5, 2018, a run of three straight wins.
Detroit comes into the weekend series a little shorthanded due to Covid-19 concerns.
After starting the season 2-2 with series splits with Carolina and Columbus, the Wings have hit the skids and have lost their past four to Chicago and Dallas.
Detroit has been hit hard by Covid-19, with Robby Fabbri, Filip Zadina, Sam Gagner, Jon Merrill and Adam Erne all out of the lineup with no return date known.
Florida and Detroit open the series Saturday night at 7 with Game 2 on Sunday at 5.
Coach Joel Quenneville said Saturday that Sergei Bobrovsky would start Saturday with the likelihood Chris Driedger goes in Game 2 on Sunday.
Bobrovsky is 15-5-1 record against the Red Wings with a .936 save percentage, 1.36 GAA and three shutouts.
With defenseman Gustav Forsling out for the next few games with an upper-body injury sustained in the second period Thursday, Markus Nutivaara slides in on the second pairing with Anton Stralman.
Quenneville also said both Juho Lammikko and Aleksi Heponiemi are expected to play Saturday.
For Lammikko, it is his first NHL game since he was demoted to AHL Springfield in 2019; it will be the NHL debut for Heponiemi.
”I am just more than excited and happy to get on the ice,” Heponiemi said after Saturday’s morning skate.
”I have been working hard on the ice the past couple of months. I am excited about it, going to try and enjoy it.”
Florida Panthers at Detroit Red Wings
When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
Where: Little Caesars Arena; Detroit, Mich.
TV/Radio: FSF/560-AM
Records: Florida 3-0-1 (fourth in Central); Detroit 2-5-1 (eighth in Central)
All-time series: Florida leads 23-17-5 (six ties)
Season series: First of eight meetings in 2021
Last season: Florida won all three meetings, outscored Detroit 13-5
Up next: Florida at Detroit, Sunday, 5 p.m.
Projected Florida Panthers lines
Florida forwards
23 Carter Verhaeghe — 16 Sasha Barkov — 91 Anthony Duclair
11 Jonathan Huberdeau — 21 Alex Wennberg — 70 Patric Hornqvist
77 Frank Vatrano —27 Eetu Luostarinen — 10 Brett Connolly
20 Aleksi Heponiemi — 83 Juho Lammikko — 55 Noel Acciari
Florida defensemen
52 MacKenzie Weegar — 5 Aaron Ekblad
65 Markus Nutivaara — 6 Anton Stralman
3 Keith Yandle — 7 Radko Gudas
Florida goalies
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
60 Chris Driedger
Likely scratches: D Noah Juulsen, F Owen Tippett, F Vinnie Hinostroza
Taxi squad: D Kevin Connauton, F Ryan Lomberg, F Mason Marchment, F Owen Tippett, G Philippe Desrosiers.
IR: D Gustav Forsling (upper body)
Florida power play (3/12, 25% 11th in NHL)
Florida penalty kill (10/14 71.4% 25th in NHL)
PP1: Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Patric Hornqvist, Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle
PP2: Alex Wennberg, Owen Tippett, Anthony Duclair, Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Stralman
Projected Detroit Red Wings lines
Detroit forwards
86 Mathias Brome — 71 Dylan Larkin — 59 Tyler Bertuzzi
39 Anthony Mantha — 92 Vladislav Namestnikov — 54 Bobby Ryan
43 Darren Helm — 51 Valtteri Filppula — 67 Taro Hirose
27 Michael Rasmussen — 41 Luke Glendening — 48 Givani Smith
Detroit defensemen
22 Patrik Nemeth — 17 Filip Hronek
18 Marc Staal — 70 Troy Stecher
65 Dan Dekeyser — 44 Christian Djoos
Detroit goalies
29 Thomas Greiss
31 Calvin Pickard
Detroit power play (4/27 14.8%, 22nd in NHL)
Detroit penalty kill (18/25 72%, 24th in NHL)
PP1: Bobby Ryan, Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, Filip Hronek, Anthony Mantha
PP2: Matias Brome, Michael Rasmussen, Vladislav Namestnikov, Christian Djoos, Taro Hirose