Five Takeaways: Red Wings Overwhelmed by Panthers

The Detroit Red Wings can’t get out of Florida fast enough. Certainly, it’s a tall order going to Miami just a day after playing the defending Stanley Cup champions in Tampa.  From the onset, the Red Wings just looked a stride slow against the speedy Panthers in a 6-2 loss. After Robby Fabbri netted his 16th goal of the season drawing the game even at one, Florida controlled play and seized momentum thanks to a couple power play goals from Anthony Duclair and Anton Lundell respectively. The roof didn’t seem to cave in until Thomas Greiss gave up a shot from Lucas Carlsson he should have saved. The fifth goal ended his evening, and the Panthers would add one more before the second period was up, leading 6-1. Tyler Bertuzzi added a goal late in the third but Florida skated away with a 6-2 victory.

In the end, Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said there just wasn’t enough of an “attack mentality.”

“As the game went along, we just didn’t have the puck at all,” Blashill said.  “And so the shot total at the end is more a factor of not having the puck at all. We gotta have an attack mentality with the puck for sure. We gotta look at the net first. That’s an area we can get better at.”

Red Wings Parade to the Box Punishes PK

The Panthers rank 21st in the league on the power play but they certainly gave Detroit all it could handle. Florida cashed in on two of its first period man advantages and and dominated the latter two in puck possession. Detroit looked exhausted as the Sam Gagner penalty was winding down.

Marc Staal was then whistled for a trip leading to a brief four second 5-on-3. The extended time only helped Florida cash in and they were well on their way to a rout.

It was the second consecutive night Detroit’s PK struggled, something Blashill they would certainly focus on.

Not a Nice Night for Greiss

The rough night was not all on him but he certainly wants that fifth goal back. Outside of that, Greiss was either let down by defensive lapses or just bad luck. But 18 saves on 23 shots isn’t going to get it done, and Greiss’s numbers are not quite where they were a season ago.

DeKeyser’s Delightful Play on Fabbri’s Goal

Danny DeKeyser has struggled at times during the season but he made a slick play on Fabbri’s goal.  DeKeyser was able to hold the puck, fire it through traffic to a waiting Fabbri who redirected it. It was a nice moment for the veteran defenseman in a season that hasn’t been so nice back.

Bennett Goal Bad Look for Red Wings

Sam Bennett was given a Grade A scoring chance and didn’t have a problem finishing with Adam Erne, Pius Suter, and Nick Leddy chasing after him. Bennett found himself alone in the slot as Jonathan Huberdeau centered a pass while tied up with Filip Hronek. Erne and Suter were behind the play while Leddy was closer to the puck than his man. Seconds later, the puck is in the back of the net and any hope of a comeback was extinguished.

Fabbri’s Goal Gets Him Within Four of 20

The Red Wings haven’t had more than two 20-goal scorers in a season since the 2018-19 year that saw Dylan Larkin (32), Andreas Athanasiou (30), and Anthony Mantha (25) end up north of 20. In fact, the Red Wings barely saw two 20-goal scorers in the past seven seasons so Fabbri knocking on the door of 20 is certainly a positive sign for the offense. Detroit hasn’t had four or more register 20 goals since 2015-16. Lucas Raymond is also just four goals from 20, making it a very real possibility.