PREVIEW: With points at a premium, Red Wings finish homestand against defending Stanley-Cup champion Panthers on Sunday

DETROIT – Aiming to complete a sweep of their final multi-game homestand of the 2024-25 regular season, the Detroit Red Wings will entertain the Florida Panthers to Little Caesars Arena on Sunday night.

Detroit (35-33-7; 77 points) and Florida (44-28-4; 92 points) are set to drop the puck at 5:30 p.m., with TV broadcast coverage airing exclusively on TNT with simulcast on truTV and streaming on MAX. Ken Kal and Paul Woods will have the call on the Red Wings Radio Network.

Sunday also marks the second of three meetings between the Atlantic Division clubs, with the Red Wings most recently taking a 5-2 decision at Amerant Bank Arena on Jan. 16.

“The story’s not done yet,” head coach Todd McLellan said after Detroit’s big 5-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. “We can still write another chapter or two. So, let’s get playing the way we can. And again, I keep saying I look up at the scoreboard at the end of the night. Don’t worry about standings or scores or anything like that...Let’s keep pushing. We’ll see what happens after Florida.”

Against the Hurricanes, Ben Chiarot and Marco Kasper scored 26 seconds apart in the first period, while Patrick Kane, Michael Rasmussen and Alex DeBrincat each notched a goal apiece to help the Red Wings push their point streak to three consecutive games.

“When you get your opportunities, you got to make good on them,” said goalie Cam Talbot, who stopped 30 of 33 shots against Carolina. “And again, that's what we did [on Friday], and we defended down the stretch to get a big two points.”

That collective mindset and effort will have to be maintained the rest of the way, and Detroit must continue getting points as well. With just seven regular-season contests to go, Detroit trails the Montreal Canadiens, who have one game in hand, by six points for the Eastern Conference’s second Wild-Card spot

“You play all year to get near the finish line, and when you're close, you should be really excited about hunting somebody down,” McLellan said. “Sometimes it's easier to be the hunter than the hunted. We'd like to change that as the years go on, but right now, we’re the hunter.”

Following Saturday’s practice at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center, McLellan also told the media that Talbot will be back between the pipes on Sunday, marking the 37-year-old netminder’s fifth consecutive start.

This season, his first with Detroit, Talbot boasts a 19-17-4 record with a 2.89 goals-against average, .903 save percentage and two shutouts in 42 games.

“I'll play any games they tell me to play,” Talbot said. “I just try to try to keep myself in as good of shape as possible and ready anytime they give the call. This time of year is when you want to be playing. You want the team to have confidence in you and the coaching staff to have confidence in you. It's not something I take lightly, and I prepare myself accordingly.”

Dealing with injuries to several key players as of late, the Panthers dropped their fourth straight game, a 3-0 shutout loss to the Ottawa Senators, on Saturday. Florida is ranked third in the Atlantic Division and thanks to losses by the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, clinched a Stanley Cup Playoffs spot.

Talbot said he feels Florida and Carolina play similar styles offensively, something Detroit is keeping in mind heading into Sunday’s clash.

“They throw a lot of pucks at the net, good net front presence, a lot of shooters in the lineup and they get a lot of pucks in from the point,” Talbot said. “We're going to have to do a good job, like we did [on Friday], boxing out to let me have sight lines…It's going to be the same playoff-type atmosphere [on Sunday], so we're going to have to be ready.”