Red Wings vs. Panthers: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

The Detroit Red Wings have scored five or more goals 21 times this season. That’s why it’s maddening that they are averaging 1.75 goals per game in their eight-game road losing streak.

They desperately need to end that skid Saturday afternoon when they play the Florida Panthers. They trail the Washington Capitals by two points in the race for the final Eastern Conference wildcard. The Caps have one game in hand.

The race is still too close to call. But counting the Saturday contest, the Red Wings only have nine games remaining this season.  They are running out of runaway to land this playoff spot.

Game Time

Saturday: Red Wings at Florida

Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, Fla.

TV/RADIO: Bally Sports/97.1 FM

Time: 12:30 p.m.

Red Wings Preview

Alex Lyon is starting in net for Detroit. He hasn’t won a game since Feb. 27. He is 0-8-1 since then. In that stretch, he has surrendered four or more goals seven times. Six of the road losses in the road losing streak belong to him…Patrick Kane may not play Saturday for the second consecutive game because has the flu going around the Red Wings dressing room. Austin Czarnik is also ill. …The Red Wings are 0-2-1 after three games of the current road trip…Alex DeBrincat and J.T. Compher both have one goal in his past 14 games. Detroit is 3-10-1 in those games.

Panthers Preview

The Panthers are 2-1 against Detroit this season. Sergei Bobrovsky has given up three or four goals in six consecutive starts for the Panthers. Florida isn’t performing as well as the team did earlier in the season. The Panthers are 1-5-1 in their last seven.  But Florida leads the NHL with a team goals-against average of 2.44. Compare that to Detroit’s team GAA of 3.34. That ranks 26th in the league.  The Panthers are currently 13th in scoring. Florida’s scoring depth is impressive: Sam Reinhart (51 goals), Aleksander Barkov (67 points in 64 games) and Matthew Tkachuk (79 goals in 72 games) are on three different lines.