Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Red Wings are set to begin a challenging four-game road trip, starting with a matchup against the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers. The game will take place at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday night.

The Red Wings currently hold a record of 20-19-4 and have accumulated 44 points this season. They will face off against the Panthers, who have a record of 26-16-3 and 55 points. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., with coverage available on ESPN and radio broadcast on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit.

Following their game against Florida, the Red Wings will continue their road trip by playing against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, the Dallas Stars on Sunday, and concluding with a match against the Philadelphia Flyers next Tuesday.

Andrew Copp from the Red Wings described this series of games as "a huge test" for the team. He emphasized that they would be facing strong opponents who are ahead of them in standings, calling it "a really good measuring-stick road trip."

Detroit aims to bounce back after suffering a 6-3 defeat to the San Jose Sharks, which ended their seven-game winning streak. Despite two goals from Vladimir Tarasenko and one from Lucas Raymond narrowing the gap during that match, they could not secure an equalizer.

Copp reflected on the loss by saying, “I think that’s the biggest thing, to learn from what happened [against San Jose].” He noted mistakes made during that game but expressed confidence in his team's ability to perform better.

Head coach Todd McLellan referred to Tuesday's loss as “a bump in the road,” highlighting its potential as a learning opportunity. He stated: “If we take the opportunity to learn from that bump and try and fix a few things -- we won’t get them all fixed --- but fix a few things, we can take advantage of a loss.”

Currently second in their division, Florida has had mixed results recently with four wins out of their last ten games. Their recent victory came via shootout against New Jersey Devils.

Sam Reinhart leads Florida's scoring efforts this season while Aleksander Barkov tops assists for his team. Matthew Tkachuk ranks second overall in scoring for them.

Panthers' goalies Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight have shared duties throughout this season posting solid statistics together including average goals allowed per game under three along with save percentage just below .900 mark so far this year

McLellan acknowledged upcoming challenges stating: “We know task front us tough one whole trip only going worry about first game head-on see where takes us.”