Preview: Red Wings look to slow down Panthers on Halloween Night

DETROIT -- It's a quote delivered by Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill repeatedly throughout the ebbs and flows of a season. "Confidence matters." Seven games into the 2021-22 campaign, it's a reference the players in the dressing room are now using to describe their approach to playing winning hockey.
Wednesday night in Washington, the likelihood of the Red Wings completing a comeback after falling behind, 2-0, could have understandably appeared grim. The Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018, and boast a lineup with some of the most skilled players across the National Hockey League.
But Detroit meticulously climbed back into the game, eventually tying things up, culminating with a game-winning goal from Dylan Larkin in overtime.

According to forward Adam Erne, the collective belief among he and his teammates is just a bit different this season.
"I think we're confident in each other. We've had some young guys coming in, we still do. Every game and every season that goes by is huge for experience, confidence," Erne said. "I know personally, every year that goes by, I feel a little bit better, a little bit more confident. You know what's going on, what to expect. I think that's probably the case, is that you're just seeing guys confident with the puck, making plays, getting used to the league and the systems."
[How to watch Red Wings-Panthers game on ESPN+ and Hulu tonight]
Blashill agreed about the importance of increased confidence through experience.
"I think we've been in situations where we've found our way to wins, and I think that breeds confidence, so that's part of it," Blashill said in Wednesday's postgame media session. "I think we have some guys that have matured over the years in terms of living through some of that.
"I don't think there's any doubt that when positive things happen to you, you gain confidence. The thing about this league, though, it's relentless. So we better get ready for a tough game on Friday."

The Red Wings will look to record their first three-game winning streak of the season tonight when they host the unblemished Florida Panthers at Little Caesars Arena. It's a rare 7 p.m. puck drop, with
television broadcast coverage airing exclusively on ESPN+ and Hulu
. Ken Kal and Paul Woods will have the call on the Red Wings Radio Network.
It's also
Halloween Night at Little Caesars Arena
, with fans encouraged to wear their costumes.
The Panthers could use an extra scare from a Friday night home crowd in Hockeytown.
Florida is 7-0-0 this season - boasting a perfect 14 points - and has scored at least four goals in every game. There's dangerous scoring ability up and down the lineup, with 10 players already tallying at least five points on the season.
Jonathan Huberdeau leads the way with nine points on three goals and six assists, while Sam Bennett (4 goals, 3 assists), Aaron Ekblad (3 goals, 4 assists), Aleksander Barkov (2 goals, 5 assists), Sam Reinhart (2 goals, 5 assists) and Gustav Forsling (7 assists) have all chipped in offensively with seven points.
Sergei Bobrovsky is off to another quick start in goal, with a 1.79 goals-against average and a save percentage of .946. Spencer Knight has earned two starts between the pipes, making 48 total saves on the season.
Detroit's top line featuring Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and Lucas Raymond has received plenty of attention as of late, and for good reason. Larkin has five points in the past three games, Bertuzzi is just the fourth Red Wings player to score at least six goals in the first five games of a season, and Raymond leads all NHL rookies in goals (4) and points (8) through seven games.
The Red Wings got a boost from Erne and Robby Fabbri, among others, in Wednesday's comeback win. Consistency across all four lines is what Blashill has been looking for, and in some cases, anticipating. He commented earlier this week that Detroit's second line perhaps didn't have the point totals it deserved based on its level of play.
The Red Wings and Panthers played eight times during the shortened 2020-21 campaign as temporary members of the Central Division. It's back to the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division for both teams this season, where they'll go head-to-head four times, including twice in the final seven regular season games.

Earning the Minutes

Raymond and Moritz Seider started overtime and tallied assists on Larkin's game-winner on Wednesday. Asked after the game about the growth opportunities that a situation like that presents, Blashill said the following:
"Well I think they're important for growth, but that's not why we had them out there. We had them out there because we think that they give us a chance to make a real good hockey play, and they did."

Joel Quenneville Steps Down

Following a meeting Thursday afternoon including Commissioner Gary Bettman, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, General Manager Bill Zito and President and CEO Matthew Caldwell, the Florida Panthers announced that coach Joel Quenneville resigned.
The Panthers announced that Andrew Brunette will take over as interim coach.