DETROIT – The Florida Panthers will try to rebound from their first loss of the season when they drop the puck against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday.
“They play very, very fast,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “If we play Detroit’s game, we get beat all night long. We will have to play the game that we’re built to play to beat them. It’s truly different identities, different styles of hockey. Whoever’s better at their game wins.”
Leading the Atlantic Division at 3-1-0, the Panthers opened up their five-game road trip with a 5-2 loss at Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Trailing 2-0 in the second period, the Panthers clawed back to even the score at 2-2 on a shorthanded goal from Sam Reinhart and a power-play goal from Sam Bennett.
But after Sean Couturier scored with 4:10 left in regulation, the Flyers added two empty-net goals to hand the Panthers their first defeat of 2025-26.
In the end, Florida allowed just four shots on goal in the third period.
Making his season debut, Daniil Tarasov was sharp in net for the Panthers, stopping 17 of 19 shots.
Returning to the crease, Sergei Bobrovsky will get the start in Detroit. In his first three appearances, he’s gone 3-0-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .925 save percentage.
As far as other lineup adjustments go, the Panthers will be moving Mackie Samoskevich up to the top line against the Red Wings, with Carter Verhaeghe shifting to the third line.
In four games this season, Samoskevich has posted three points (1G, 2A).
“With Mackie, we’ve got a fairly deep team here,” Maurice said of the former first-round pick. “If he was in a lot of the organizations that are maybe in a different part of their rebuild, he would’ve been playing and playing bigger minutes in the NHL and putting up numbers and people would appreciate how good he is. He’s going to get that chance now. He’s ready for it. He’s fit, he’s strong, he’s fast. He understands our game.”
Spreading out the offense in the absence of injured stars Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers have already had 15 different players register a point this season.
Starting on a point-per-game pace, Brad Marchand and Anton Lundell are tied for first on the team in scoring with four points, while four other players have recorded three points.
Only just turning 24 earlier this month, Lundell will skate in his 300th NHL game tonight.
“It sounds pretty crazy to me, to be honest," the young Finn said. “You can’t really believe that you’re still playing here. First off, it’s so hard to make it. To be able to stay here and have an opportunity to play in the NHL has been a dream come true. Just living my dream.”
After getting blown out by Montreal in their season opener, the Red Wings have flipped the script and enter tonight’s matchup on the heels of two straight wins over the Maple Leafs.
Following a 6-3 win in Detroit on Saturday, they earned a 3-2 win at Toronto 3-2 on Monday.
Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat are tied for first on the Red Wings with four points each, while Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond have each tallied three. Suffering an upper-body injury against the Maple Leafs on Monday, Raymond won't play tonight.
Expected to get the start, Cam Talbot has appeared in all three games for Detroit, posting a 2-0-0 record with a 2.11 goals-against average and .925 save percentage. Acquired from Anaheim in the offseason, John Gibson was pulled in the opener after giving up five goals on eight shots to Montreal.
Over their last 11 meetings, Florida owns a 9-2-0 record against Detroit.
Returning to the Motor City, Jeff Petry, who inked a one-year deal with the Panthers this summer, manned the blue line for 117 games over two seasons with the Red Wings.
“It’s always nice to come back,” said Petry, a Michigan native.
THEY SAID IT
“I’ve learned even more off the ice. I’ve matured a lot in my own game on the ice, but I’ve learned a lot living away from my home country, Finland, to the US, to Florida. I feel like a different man.” – Anton Lundell in his growth in the NHL
“We have full expectation of Uvis playing the game that he’s capable of playing. He doesn’t get any room not to. That’s a positive for us. We think we’re putting a guy in there that’s very capable.” – Paul Maurice on Uvis Balinskis stepping up in Dmitry Kulikov’s absence
FIVE CATS STATS
- Luke Kunin ranks second among Florida’s with 10:49 of shorthanded ice time.
- Ten different Panthers have scored at least one goal this season.
- The Panthers have gone 12-for-12 on the penalty kill to start the season.
- Florida has scored at least one power-play goal in each of its first four games.
- Seth Jones is one goal away from the 100th of his NHL career.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Evan Rodrigues – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Luke Kunin – Jonah Gadjovich
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Oct. 13: D Tobias Bjornfot recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- Oct. 12: F Jonah Gadjovich agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Wednesday, October 15 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena – Detroit, MI
TV: TNT, HBO MAX
Radio: 104.3 WQAM-FM/560 WQAM-AM (Dade/Broward); 106.3 WESP-FM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); Panthers GameDay App; NHL App; SiriusXM 222 / App & Streaming 931
How to Watch: Click Here
