The Florida Panthers, who have won three straight games overall and are 3-1-0 at home, are set to face the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla
Florida has scored five hat tricks this season, one short of the franchise record. The most recent hat trick belongs to Anton Lundell, who scored three goals on Friday night in a 5-2 win over the visiting Winnipeg Jets.
“You want to produce,” Lundell said. “Everybody wants to score.”
The Panthers entered Sunday tied for 15th in the NHL with an average of 3.14 goals per game. Florida is also ninth with a 24.2% power-play percentage.
Brady Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe each have scored eight goals this season to tie for the team lead. Sam Reinhart tops the Panthers with six power-play goals.
Brady’s brother Matthew Tkachuk and Seth Jones lead the Panthers in overall assists (16) and power-play assists (10).
In goal, Akira Schmid has done a solid job taking over for Jacob Markstrom (upper-body injury). Schmid is 5-2-1 with a 2.86 goals-against average and an .889 save percentage.
“Akira has gotten better and better in every game he’s played for us,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
Schmid is 1-1-0 in two career games against Detroit, posting a 2.50 GAA and a .907 save percentage.
The Red Wings are coming off a 5-4 loss on Saturday against visiting St. Louis. Detroit led 4-2 in the third period before allowing three goals in a five-minute span.
Detroit’s John Gibson stopped just 10 of the 15 shots against him, but Red Wings coach Todd McLellan didn’t blame the goaltender.
“You can’t put this on John,” the coach said. “He had no chance on the first two goals, then there were two lasers from the hash marks and a (deflection).”
A 33-year-old veteran who spent his first 12 seasons with Anaheim before a trade to the Red Wings ahead of the 2025-26 season, Gibson is 4-5-1 with a 3.37 GAA and an .860 save percentage.
Gibson had an exceptional start to last season, going 23-12-2 through February 2026. Since then, he is 11-15-3. He is in the final season of his current contract.
Detroit’s backup goalie is Daniil Tarasov, who missed time earlier this season due to an undisclosed injury. A 27-year-old who signed a one-year contract in July, Tarasov is 1-0-2 with a 1.40 GAA and a .940 save percentage. He was Florida’s backup last season, going 13-15-3 with a 3.05 GAA and an .895 save percentage.
The Red Wings, who are in last place in the Atlantic Division, are in the midst of the longest active playoff drought in the NHL at 10 seasons.
Center Dylan Larkin — who had been Detroit’s captain and longest-tenured player — was suspended without pay on Thursday. This was in response to Larkin requesting a trade before the season and informing the team late last month that he will no longer play for the Red Wings.
A native of Michigan, Larkin had been the face of the franchise, and the 30-year-old’s absence leaves a huge hole at center. He scored a career-high 34 goals last season, which was the fifth straight year in which he put at least 30 pucks in the back of the net.
Without Larkin (two goals, four assists in 10 games), Viktor Arvidsson leads Detroit with eight goals. Alex DeBrincat tops the squad in points (15).
–Field Level Media
