Detroit Red Wings @ Florida Panthers: Gameday Updates, Lineups, Keys to the Game

Dec 8, 2022 - 7:00 PM

Gameday Updates

Projected Lineups

Detroit Red Wings

FORWARDS

David Perron - Dylan Larkin - Lucas Raymond
Pius Suter - Michael Rasmussen - Dominik Kubalik
Adam Erne - Andrew Copp - Oskar Sundqvist
Jonatan Berggren - Joe Veleno - Austin Czarnik

DEFENSE

Ben Chiarot - Moritz Seider
Olli Maatta - Filip Hronek
Jordan Oesterle - Jake Walman

GOALIES

Ville Husso
Alex Nedeljkovic

Florida Panthers

The Panthers didn’t hold a skate this morning, and aren’t putting out a lineup until Maurice speaks pregame. This is a total guess based on what A.) What DailyFaceoff has right now, and B.) the reports that Barkov is returning tonight.

FORWARDS

Carter Verhaeghe - Aleksander Barkov - Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostaarinen - Sam Bennett - Colin White
Nick Cousins - Anton Lundell - Sam Reinhart
Aleksi Heponiemi - Eric Staal - Ryan Lomberg

DEFENSE

Gustav Forsling - Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura - Aaron Ekblad
Matt Kiersted - Marc Staal

GOALIES

Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight

Keys to the Game

• Batten Down Ye Hatches
  Despite the fact they’re a bit off from last year’s team, the Panthers are still one of the best in the NHL at generating offense, averaging 3.17 xGF per game at 5v5 this season (second most in the league.) Like the Lightning game, this may be a contest in which Detroit’s mantra may just be “survive.” That said, if the defense can condense a bit to keep the danger out of of the high-danger areas, and if the Wings get as good of a goaltending performance they got Tuesday, this could be a game Detroit steals
• Let the Burgers Cook
  Jonatan Berggren is impressing more and more with each game he plays. And while some believe he should be playing a bigger role, Lalonde has actually done a fantastic job of managing Berggren’s minutes in a way that gets him involved in impact moments without put too much of a defensive burden on him. The more games he plays though, the more I would like to see the Wings take the leash off a bit, like giving him some defensive zone starts for an opportunity to lead the rush. There’s still some work to be done with Berggren’s game, sure. But the more he takes advantage of the minutes he’s getting, the more opportunities for growth he deserves.