Back on home ice, Panthers set to host streaking Red Wings in Sunrise

The Florida Panthers are back home looking to build some momentum before they head back out on the road again.

Next week the Cats will begin a week-long, four-game west coast swing, all against teams in the Pacific Division.

But first, Florida is set to host a pair of games in Sunrise, starting Thursday against the up-and-coming Detroit Red Wings.

After enduring a rough stretch in December that saw the Wings go just 3-8-2, they have seemed to find whatever their missing ingredient was.

Before Detroit lost at home on Tuesday to San Jose, they had won each of their previous seven games.

The run has helped the Red Wings improve from next-to-last in the Eastern Conference and eight points back of the final Wild Card to four points out of a playoff spot and with only three teams to pass, instead of seven.

Florida, meanwhile, has a six-point edge over the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division and trails first place Toronto by a single point.

It’s been a struggle of late for the Cats to find their way. Over their past 10 games, Florida is just 4-5-1.

The Panthers are hoping to top pairing defenseman Aaron Ekblad back in the lineup on Thursday.

Ekblad did not travel with the team on their quick two-game road trip earlier this week, with the hope being that the time off will help him recuperate and recover from the undisclosed injury that has kept him off the ice.

Here are Florida’s projected lines and pairings ahead of Thursday’s tussle with the Wings:

Evan Rodrigues – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Eetu Luostarinen – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

Carter Verhaeghe – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist

A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Mackie Samoskevich

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov

Nate Schmidt – Uvis Balinskis

Scratches: Tony Bjornfot, Jonah Gadjovich, Adam Boqvist

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