"We know as a team that every point is important," Panthers forward Noel Acciari said after this morning's optional skate. "You don't want to lose twice to the same team in a row. We take that personally. We want to make sure that we're getting points out of every game you can."
On Super Bowl Sunday, the Panthers fell into a 2-0 hole and couldn't claw their way back in an eventual 4-1 loss to the Red Wings. Alex Wennberg had the lone goal for Florida, while Givani Smith, Robby Fabbri, Vladislav Namestnikov and Marc Stall all touched the twine for Detroit.
With the loss, the Panthers also saw their season-opening point streak end at eight games.
"We want to make sure that we're a little better in all aspects of our game," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought we started alright, but slowed down as the game went on. For the most part, we had a good skate yesterday. Let's make sure we're ready to play the right way."
Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Panthers in points (12) and assists (8), while Carter Verhaeghe has the most goals (6). Not far behind Huberdeau, captain Aleksander Barkov ranks second on the team with 11 points (four goals, seven assists), including three goals in his last five games.
Florida's scoring leaders have also had a lot of success against Detroit in their careers. Barkov has produced at nearly a point-per-game clip with 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 28 games against the Red Wings, while Huberdeau has 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in 27 contests.
In terms of potential lineup changes tonight, Quenneville mentioned that forward Ryan Lomberg will be getting back onto the ice for the first time since opening night. And going off what we saw during yesterday's practice, defenseman Markus Nutivaara could also be back on the blue line.
"We've been in a mode of giving everyone an opportunity here and reassessing it," Quenneville said. "Now that we've got the second go-around here, we'll make decisions as we go along to see who's going to be in the mix [for spots] … Right now, it's more of an opportunity situation."
Prior to picking up the win against the Panthers on Sunday, the Red Wings had been struggling mightily, dropping eight straight games while being soundly outscored 33-13 in those matchups.
Owning the 30th-ranked offense in the league (2.00 goals per game), Dylan Larkin leads Detroit in scoring with nine points (four goals, five assists), but has been held off the scoresheet in each of the last three games. Below him, Anthony Mantha, who was a healthy scratch last game, and Tyler Bertuzzi, who is currently out due to an injury, are tied for second with seven points each.
"I thought we competed extremely hard," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill told reporters after beating the Panthers. "I thought we were committed to trying to play the right way. We weren't perfect; we gave up chances and when we gave up chances, I thought [Thomas] Greiss was great."
A thorn in the Panthers' side for the past several seasons, Greiss was outstanding the last time out, stopping 36 of 37 shots to earn his first victory of the season. While the Red Wings haven't announced a starter, the 34-year-old veteran could make his eighth straight appearance tonight.
In 10 games this season, Greiss is 1-7-2 with a .903 save percentage.
"I thought early he made some key saves," Quenneville said of Greiss. "I thought we didn't force enough inside as the game went on -- we got a little bit outside, made it a bit more comfortable for him. You need traffic, you need shots, you need to get more inside against [the Red Wings]."
For the Panthers, Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to get the start after backup Chris Driedger got the nod on Sunday. In four games this season, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has gone 3-0-1 with a .881 save percentage. On Jan. 30, he made 25 saves in a 3-2 overtime win in Detroit.
Overall, Florida owns a 9-1-1 record over its last 11 games against the Red Wings.
"We talked about it at the top, being harder to play against," Quenneville said when asked about the key to bouncing back tonight. "That's what we needed more of the other night and what we're going to need tonight."
