PREVIEW: Red Wings continue three-game road trip, try for season sweep of Panthers on Thursday

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Still in the chase for the Eastern Conference’s second Wild-Card spot, the Detroit Red Wings will kick off a back-to-back set in the Sunshine State when they face the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday night.

Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., with broadcast coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit). The Red Wings (36-34-7; 79 points) are aiming to sweep the three-game season series against the Panthers (45-29-4; 94 points) after earning a 5-2 win in Florida on Jan. 16 and a 2-1 victory in Detroit four days ago (April 6).

This three-game road trip started on Tuesday, when Detroit fell to the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1. Captain Dylan Larkin scored his 29th goal of the season and goalie Cam Talbot made 17 saves for the Red Wings, who are one of four clubs (New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers) trailing the Canadiens by eight points for that second Wild-Card spot.

“We had all the momentum in the world during the first period [on Tuesday],” Patrick Kane said. “We lose it in the second and we couldn’t get it back. There’s going to be momentum swings throughout a game. We got to find a way to get it back as quickly as possible when we don’t have it.”

Detroit has also seen momentum shift throughout this season. And, if there’s anything this competitive Wild-Card race has proven so far, it’s that anything can happen. Going into Thursday, Detroit had five regular-season contests left with one in hand on Montreal.

“We’ve used the word belief a lot since we got here,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “We’re realistic. We look at the standings and know what’s ahead of us and what must be done. What can we control? We can control our input into the game tonight, and that’s basically it. We can’t control what other teams are doing. We can’t count on Montreal to help us. When you give up control, you’re at the mercy of anything.”

With a 4-5-1 record in its last 10 games, Florida is currently ranked third in the Atlantic Division and most recently beat the Atlantic-leading Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1, on Tuesday.

The Panthers will likely be somewhat of a different club on Thursday after prioritizing various players’ health against the Red Wings four days ago, when they were without names like Sam Reinhart (35-41—78), captain Aleksander Barkov (19-49—68) and Gustav Forsling (11-17—28).

Veteran goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to start for the defending Stanley Cup champions on Thursday. In 52 contests this season, Bobrovsky has posted a 32-18-2 record with a 2.42 goals-against average, .907 save percentage and five shutouts.

“They have some of their big boys back into the lineup,” McLellan said about the Panthers. “The power play and penalty kill will look different, especially the power play. It’ll have a little more pop and familiarity to it. They’re still battling for positioning, getting ready for the playoffs, so I expect a Stanley Cup champion-type effort.”