Red Wings ready for 'tough challenge' of upcoming schedule amid playoff push

DETROIT -- Now comes the hard part.

After rattling off seven straight wins under new coach Todd McLellan, the Detroit Red Wings lost to the San Jose Sharks 6-3 at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday, and here's the situation:

Not only are they four points out of a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they're one of six teams within five points of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who hold the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

They have the toughest remaining schedule in the NHL by three measures, according to NHL Stats: highest average points percentage of opponents (.588), most games against teams currently in a playoff spot (27) and most games on the road (23).

And it starts against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers, at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Thursday on national television (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SNP).

"You take it as a challenge," forward Patrick Kane said. "Under Todd, we've kind of built a little bit of a foundation where we're kind of knowing what to expect going forward and feeling confident about it as well, so just play every game, take it a game at a time and see what happens."

The Red Wings hired McLellan to replace Derek Lalonde on Dec. 26. With only one morning skate to prepare, they lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 at home the next night.

Then they went on their longest winning streak since Jan. 12-23, 2012.

The streak started with a 4-2 win against the Washington Capitals at home Dec. 29 and included a 4-2 win at the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 4. The Jets and Capitals are tied atop the NHL standings.

Those performances can serve as inspiration against the Panthers.

"They're physical," Kane said. "They can play pretty much any game, right? They have a lot of skill. They can keep coming at you in waves. We obviously saw that last year with them doing what they did to win, so we need to be on top of our game. We proved we can do that when we went into Winnipeg and beat the best team in the League, right? Let's do it again."

The Red Wings sagged against the Sharks, who are 31st in the NHL standings.

That performance can serve as a lesson at Florida and beyond.

"Like, playing San Jose, you think you're going to have a good chance to win, and they come in and beat you in your home rink, right?" Kane said. "I feel like it doesn't really matter who you play. You need to be ready every game."

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin called the San Jose game "a great lesson."

"In this league, anyone can beat anyone on any given night," he said. "We've been feeling good about our game, and we came in, and we got stumped. It just goes that way.

"We're going in to play the defending champs, division rivals, in Florida, which is a tough place to play. And how they play there, it's a tough, tough challenge. But I think we're up for it."

They'll need to be.

They're 2-8-2 in their past 12 games at Florida. The Panthers are second in the Atlantic Division.

From there, the Red Wings visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, the Dallas Stars on Sunday and the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.

They're 4-18-1 in their past 23 games at Tampa Bay, 0-8-3 in their past 11 games at Dallas and 2-18-2 in their past 22 games at Philadelphia. The Lightning are third in the Atlantic, the Stars are third in the Central and the Flyers are tied with the Red Wings in points.

"We know the task in front of us is a tough one, this whole trip," McLellan said.

It won't get easier afterward. The Red Wings will come home to play the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 23, the Lightning on Jan. 25 and the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 27. The Canadiens are two points ahead of them. The Kings are third in the Pacific.

Then they embark on another four-game trip to …

Well, McLellan doesn't want them thinking about any of this. He doesn't want them thinking about anything but the Panthers.

"What I don't want them to do is get caught up in a seven-game win streak or a four-game losing streak," he said. "I want them to live in the moment and just worry about that.

"It can be hard if you get caught up in all of that stuff, and it can take you down or it can put you too far up. Put the equipment on, and let's deal with things between Minute 1 and Minute 60, and we're fine."