#LGRW Daily: Pre-Super Bowl matinee kicks off Florida road series

DETROIT -- To a man, the Detroit Red Wings' players and coaches acknowledged that Friday night's effort in Tampa Bay was far better than Wednesday's series opener. While the end result remained the same, Detroit is eager to prove that it has a winning formula that can be applied and repeated every time it takes the ice.

Following their two-game series in Tampa Bay, the Red Wings made the short flight to Sunrise, Fla., to take on the Florida Panthers for the third and fourth times in this early season. Puck drop for Sunday's pre-Super Bowl matinee is set for 3 p.m. (Fox Sports Detroit, 97.1 The Ticket), followed by a 7 p.m. start time for Tuesday's series finale at BB&T Center.
The Red Wings' winless streak has reached eight games (0-6-2), including a pair of one-goal setbacks against Florida last weekend at Little Caesars Arena. The Panthers have had Detroit's number as of late, going 9-0-1 in the last 10 meetings between traditional Atlantic Division rivals.
Aleksi Heponiemi scored the game-winning goal in overtime of last Saturday's (Jan. 30) series opener, marking his first career NHL goal, and handed the Panthers a 3-2 win. Florida then completed a 3-2, come-from-behind victory in Sunday's (Jan. 31) finale. Detroit's Anthony Mantha scored goals in both contests.
With the return of five players from the COVID protocol list over the last two games, winger Bobby Ryan expects the team to start regaining the chemistry it had early this season.
"Both of my line mates went down one game in," Ryan said. "Then they come back, and - really, I'm playing with Fabbs (Robby Fabbri) and I've only had 10, 12 skates with him as a line mate. So you're kind of trying to figure those things out on the fly.
"Everybody's got to have to go through it in some fashion with Covid. That's just the way it's going to be. But as you get guys healthy, and get them back into game speed and form, we can certainly build."

Part of the building process is playing a form of hockey that can be executed on a nightly basis.
"Good hockey, winning hockey, is always repeatable," Ryan said. "It's just about doing the little things, and the little details over and over again. We do it in spurts, but we don't do it long enough. That's something that's got to be corrected for us to have success going forward."
Florida enters the series with 14 points, and currently sits in second place in the NHL's Central Division, behind Tampa Bay. The Panthers are coming off a series split against the visiting Nashville Predators, including Friday's 2-1 win, and have collected at least one point in eight consecutive games.
Seven Panthers have scored six or more points on the season, led by winger Jonathan Huberdeau's 12 points on four goals and eight assists. Centerman Aleksander Barkov has scored four goals and contributed seven helpers, while Carter Verhaeghe enters Sunday's game with a team-high six goals to go along with three assists.
In goal, the Panthers have split their eight starts among Sergei Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger, who owns a 1.72 goals-against average and .942 save percentage. Florida's power play has been stellar, converting at an NHL fourth-best 36 percent rate.
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill pointed to the level of confidence that Florida is currently playing with.
"Confidence is a powerful, powerful thing in our business, because of how close the teams are most nights," Blashill said. "I think Barkov's one of the best players in the world, one of the most underrated for sure. They've got a whole bunch of other good players on that team. So they're a good hockey team."

Despite the back-to-back losses in Tampa, Blashill was encouraged with his team's progress, especially during Friday night's game.
"We kind of reset ourselves after the (first) Tampa game a little bit," Blashill said. "Certainly, that was embarrassing, to get down that fast, that quickly. I've talked about this before - we've got a whole bunch of fresh faces, so I hope the residual effect of a year ago, or the last couple years, is much less, because we've got guys that didn't live it. The guys that have lived it, I think have learned. You build a mental toughness. When you go through tough times, you have a chance to have great growth.
"I believe we're in a better position to come out of it," Blashill said. "We're a better hockey team than we were a year ago. We're playing better in most of the games. We've got to find our way to some wins, for sure. But we've got to go out and play the way we did multiple times this year, including last night. And if we do that, I think we'll put ourselves in a position to win."
Fans are encouraged to download the HomeTurf app and log into "Hockeytown Home Ice" for an innovative second screen experience during Red Wings games, both home and away.

#LGRW Daily Extra

BOBBY RYAN BOOK CLUB?

Bobby Ryan's interest in reading is taking on a life of its own. Since NHL protocols don't allow teammates to gather and socialize on the road, he's been using the extra time to read some classic novels. He brought five books on the Chicago/Dallas road trip, including Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. He's already onto a new crop of books for the longest road trip of the season. "I'm about halfway through Fahrenheit 451 right now, which I think everybody's familiar with," Ryan said. "So I have that. War and Peace didn't make it because I got it at the airport, but I will get into that on the next trip. I think I have Plato, and I think I have Robinson Crusoe still on the list. Grinding through them."

SUPER BOWL PREDICTIONS

Ryan has also been the Red Wings' ringleader in gathering Super Bowl predictions, and even set up a team Super Bowl "squares" competition. He's especially enamored with the longevity and sustained success of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and former Michigan Wolverine Tom Brady.
"I think you tip your cap to years 12 through 15, but when you're in year 21, you're just going, what is happening?" Ryan said. "At this point, you're just marveling at it. I read an article yesterday about what the rest of his draft class is doing. Guys going back to teaching and with other businesses. They've been out of the league for 10, 12 years. The fact that he continues to not only do it, but do it at this level, is just unthinkable. I feel lucky that I get to watch him play."

AVAILABILITY UPDATE

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill confirmed that goalie Jonathan Bernier would not be available for Sunday's game. Tyler Bertuzzi also remains sidelined with an upper-body injury suffered on Jan. 30.