PREVIEW: Fighting to stay alive in the Wild-Card race, Detroit wraps up back-to-back set in Tampa Bay on Friday 

TAMPA BAY -- After dropping the front half of their back-to-back set in the Sunshine State, the Detroit Red Wings will try to quickly rebound when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning at AMALIE Arena on Friday night.

Friday’s 7 p.m. puck drop (broadcast coverage on FanDuelSports Network Detroit and WWJ Newsradio 950 in Detroit) puts a bow on the season series between the Red Wings (36-35-7; 79 points) and Lightning (45-26-7; 97 points). Detroit trails the season series 1-2-0, its lone win over Tampa Bay coming by way of a 2-0 shutout victory at Little Caesars Arena on Jan 25.

“We’re going to have to play with some emotion,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said following Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena. “We’re going to have to win battles. I say that because when we do that, we’re a good team and we can play with anyone. That’s what it’s going to take the rest of the way.”

Detroit now finds itself trying to fend off elimination from Stanley Cup Playoffs contention. Entering Friday, the Red Wings were eight points behind the Montreal Canadiens, both with four regular-season games to play, for the Eastern Conference’s final Wild-Card spot.

Alex DeBrincat, who scored Detroit’s lone goal on Thursday, said the club must focus on playing a more consistent brand of hockey and putting forth the best possible effort the rest of the way to give itself a fighting chance at a postseason berth.

“Even [against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday], we dominated the first period and went up one, then didn’t get another the rest of the game,” DeBrincat said. “We just got to bring it every night and put some more pucks in the net. There’s a balance. We got to be better in our own zone but also bury our chances in the other zone.”

Jockeying for positioning in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Lightning have lost three of their last four contests after falling to the Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime, 4-3, on Wednesday.

Nikita Kucherov has been all over the scoresheet for Tampa Bay this season, leading the club in assists (82) and points (116). Brayden Point has the most goals (41), including three in his last five games, and has the third-most points (79).

In 61 appearances this season, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has posted a 37-20-4 record with a 2.17 goals-against average, .922 save percentage and six shutouts.

“We know what we have here and know we can play against the best, and beat the best,” DeBrincat said. “We just got to bring it every night and put some more pucks in the net.”