Red Wings at Panthers preview

RED WINGS (9-26-3) at PANTHERS (18-13-5)
7 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-D+, NHL.TV

Ekblad was injured in the second period when he was hit by a shot in a 6-1 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. He is also expected to miss Florida's game against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday but will accompany the Panthers on a four-game road trip that begins at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
Weegar did not take part in the morning skate and is day to day for Florida, 3-1-0 in its past four games after going 2-4-0 in its previous six games.
The Red Wings look to avoid their fifth straight loss; they have been outscored 18-8 during their four-game skid and are 2-14-0 in their past 16 games.

Players to watch

Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi has five points (four goals, one assist) in a five-game point streak and has scored one goal in three consecutive games.
Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in a four-game point streak, and has scored one goal in three straight games.

They said it

"We have to find a way to persevere and it's not easy. We've gotten kicked lots. A lot of that is self-inflicted. I get it. But we have to show up the next day and we [must] be ready to work and we have to work our way out of it." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill
"You've got to respect your opponent and you've got to keep it simple early in the game, work your way into it. We want to be all business, we want to play hard, we want to set the tempo, we want to set the pace right off the bat." -- Panthers coach Joel Quenneville

Red Wings projected lineup

Tyler Bertuzzi -- Dylan Larkin -- Andreas Athanasiou
Robby Fabbri -- Valtteri Filppula -- Filip Zadina
Darren Helm -- Luke Glendening -- Adam Erne
Christoffer Ehn -- Frans Nielsen -- Brendan Perlini
Patrik Nemeth -- Mike Green
Trevor Daley -- Filip Hronek
Brian Lashoff -- Madison Bowey
Jimmy Howard
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Alex Biega, Justin Abdelkader
Injured: Jonathan Bernier (groin), Danny DeKeyser (back), Anthony Mantha (upper body), Jonathan Ericsson (face)

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Brett Connolly -- Vincent Trocheck -- Noel Acciari
Frank Vatrano -- Brian Boyle -- Mike Hoffman
Colton Sceviour -- Dominic Toninato -- Denis Malgin
Keith Yandle -- Mark Pysyk
Riley Stillman -- Anton Stralman
Mike Matheson -- Josh Brown
Chris Driedger
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Jayce Hawryluk
Injured: Aaron Ekblad (upper body), MacKenzie Weegar (upper body

Status report

The Red Wings recalled Zadina, Lashoff and Pickard from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League on Friday. … Bernier could be ready to return against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. … Hawryluk was recalled from Springfield of the AHL on Tuesday following a conditioning assignment. He hasn't played for the Panthers since Oct. 30.

Stat pack

Detroit has allowed five or more goals in 18 of its 38 games this season. … Barkov has 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 23 games against the Red Wings.