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The Florida Panthers have narrowed the gap between themselves and the division leading Bruins and are a team that continue to head in a positive direction as Detroit will look to try and grab some much needed points on this swing. Ford the past 5 games it’s a “pick your poison… as Reinhart has 7 goals in 5, Barkov has 7 assists in 5 and Tkachuk has 11 points. For Detroit Larkin leads in all 3 categories over the past 5 with 4 goals, 3 assists and 7 points.
The first meeting with the Panthers was a shutout in November and the panthers have 1 regulation loss their past 10 games (8-1-1). This team is formidable and Detroit needs to be on their game at puck drop as Tkachuk manages to throw players off their game (and into the box or suspension). The Panthers have done a lot of things well in the current iteration.
Detroit is back to a 10 game winning record at 6-3-1 and tied in points with Tampa as the two occupy the wild card spots at this point. That could change for better or worse after these next couple of games and see one team on the outside and the other gaining ground. The rest of January and all of February are the stretch. This is where the Wings need to play their most consistent and high level hockey to determine what the trade deadline will look like.
Right now, the team looks like they’re are on the same page much of the time and certainly more able to score than what Wings fans have seen over the past several years. Copp has a nice bit of momentum, Sprong has the ability to make some really nice plays and Seider is looking more and more like the top defenseman the team has needed for a while. Larkin gives everything he has, but the loss of Kane right now is a disappointment. Hoping for a quick return to form.
Detroit will determine their fate in the defensive zone tonight as much as on any night. There has been an adjustment to some more “one on one… coverage as opposed to full zone or modified trapezoid coverage. Where this gets tricky is the “legal pick… used as the opposing blue liner uses the half wall forward to find space against the defender. Sometimes this is called out in the post season, but it’s not a league priority as more goals makes the game more exciting for outside fans.
Let me know how you think this will go and what you expect to see on the ice. Hopefully the sunshine state will be as friendly as California was.