The Red Wings get a tough road test tonight in Sunrise, where they’ll face a Panthers team sitting in the Eastern Conference’s last wild card spot and holding a three-point edge over Detroit.
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET, with the game on DSN and 97.1 FM. The betting line has Detroit at +1.5 (-170) and Florida at -1.5 (+142).
Detroit enters at 6-5-3, and one of the biggest bright spots has been Emmitt Finnie’s move from wing to center. The switch keeps working: Finnie has six goals on the season and has piled up nine points (5-4-9) in his last nine games since Oct. 6 vs. Ottawa.
There’s also been some encouraging work on the back end. Justin Faulk, acquired by Detroit in a trade with St.
Louis on March 6, 2026, has posted six points (2-4-6) and a plus-four rating in 12 games since Oct. 6 vs. Ottawa.
As a team, the Red Wings are ninth in the league with a 2.93 goals-against average.
The issue remains offense. Detroit ranks 24th in the NHL at 2.79 goals per game and 22nd in five-on-five goals with 25, though that still sits three ahead of Florida’s total. The Wings are also 2-1-2 on the road this season.
In net, Detroit hasn’t announced a starter. Daniel Tarasov looks like the likely option, and the note from the team side is that he was Florida’s backup goalie last season. The other possibility listed is John Gibson.
Detroit’s injury list includes Marco Kasper (upper body) and Mason Appleton (upper body), both of whom could return in seven to 10 days. Albert Johansson (undisclosed) is likely to miss the Florida and Tampa Bay games.
The Red Wings are coming off a 5-4 loss to St. Louis, a game in which William Wallinder blocked six shots.
Moritz Seider is the only other Red Wing with six blocks this season, and his came in the Oct. 15 game vs. Philadelphia and the Oct. 10 game at Montreal.
Detroit’s projected forward groups have Alex DeBrincat with Emmitt Finnie and Victor Arvidsson on the top line, followed by Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Andrew Copp and Lucas Raymond; Michael Rasmussen, J.T. Compher and John Leonard; and Carter Mazur, Sheldon Dries and Keegan Kolesar.
The defense pairings are Ben Chiarot with Moritz Seider, Andreas Englund with Anton Johansson, and William Wallinder with Justin Faulk. The listed extras are Jacob Bernard-Docker and Nate Danielson.
Florida comes in after a 5-2 win over Winnipeg on Friday, with Akira Schmid in goal. The Panthers have the sixth-best goals-against average per game at 2.79.
There’s movement on the injury front for Florida, too. Jacob Markstrom should return to the lineup this week, and Brad Marchand is skating.
The Panthers are without Brad Marchand (knee), Aleksander Barkov (knee), Jacob Markstrom (upper body) and Jonah Gadjovah (neck). Gadjovic and Barkov are both on LTIR, while Marchand isn’t expected back until just before Thanksgiving.
Florida’s projected lines have Brady Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk together up front, with Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart and Sandis Vilmanis on the second line. Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell and Lars Eller make up the third unit, and Bokondji Imama, Cole Schwindt and Garnet Hathaway are listed on the fourth.
On defense, the pairings are Gustav Forsling with Aaron Ekblad, Niko Mikkola with Seth Jones, and Dmitry Kulikov with Radko Gudas. The goaltending options are Akira Schmid or Cooper Black.
In Other News...
Division Rival Just Took Detroits Side In The Dylan Larkin Drama
Dylan Larkins trade request has already become one of the more uncomfortable storylines in Detroit, and now it has drawn an unexpected comparison from a division rival. Tampa Bay forward Brandon Hagel weighed in after a similar situation involving teammate Nikita Kucherov, offering a perspective that put Larkins case in a different light and added another layer to a saga that has already unsettled the Red Wings.
Detroit, meanwhile, has tried to keep moving. The team responded to Larkins suspension without pay by winning a game and making it clear his absence will not linger in the room as players focus on the next stretch of the season. Even so, the fact that a rival player felt compelled to speak up only underscores how much attention this situation is drawing around the league. [Read more 🡒]
Dylan Larkin Trade Talks Just Hit A Massive Red Wings Roadblock
Dylan Larkins name has been circling in trade chatter, but the latest wrinkle is less about what another team wants and more about where the Red Wings captain is willing to go. According to NHL insider Chris Johnston, Buffalo put forward a significant offer for Larkin, only for Detroit to run into the wall created by his no-trade clause, which gives him control over where any deal can land.
The clause matters because Larkin can approve a move only to a limited group of teams, and Buffalo is not on that list. Montreal is also among the clubs with interest, and the situation is still fluid enough that his approved destinations could change soon, leaving Detroit in a holding pattern until there is clarity on whether the list gets updated. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Are Chasing A Star As The NHL Trade Market Shifts
The NHL trade market has started to tilt toward star power, and Detroits Dylan Larkin is right in the middle of the conversation. Buffalo has shown interest in the Red Wings captain, but for now the idea of him landing there remains a nonstarter, which keeps the focus on how much leverage Detroit actually has if the market keeps heating up around top-line centers.
Elsewhere, Nikita Kucherov has put his own situation into the open after explaining why he asked out of Tampa Bay, adding another major name to a market already drawing attention from teams like Toronto and Montreal. He still has not identified preferred destinations, which leaves plenty of room for speculation and keeps the ripple effects moving for clubs trying to gauge what kind of trade landscape they are really dealing with. [Read more 🡒]