Panthers In Detroit Still Searching For First Road Win
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DETROIT (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – It's been tough for the Florida Panthers when away from home so far this season.
The Detroit Red Wings look to start another winning streak fewer than 24 hours after their six-game run came to an end as they host the struggling Panthers on Sunday.
The Red Wings managed just 24 shots on goal in a 1-0 loss to Boston on Saturday night, but received another outstanding goaltending performance as Jimmy Howard made 35 saves.
Howard and Petr Mrazek, who is expected to be in net on Sunday, have surrendered just nine goals in the last seven games after Detroit yielded 10 while losing the first two contests of the season.
The Panthers have lost the first three on their four-game road trip, managing just four goals, and are 1-4-1 since winning their first two games of 2016-17.
The defending Atlantic Division champions have had trouble getting production outside the top line of Jonathan Marchessault, Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr but even that trio was blanked in a 3-0 loss at Buffalo on Saturday afternoon.
Veteran Roberto Luongo was in net Saturday, which could give backup James Reimer (0-1-1) his third start of the season.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, FSN Florida, FSN Detroit Plus
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (3-4-1): Defenseman Mike Matheson was rested Saturday after posting a minus-3 rating combined in the previous two games while veteran forward Shawn Thornton and blue liner Steve Kampfer made their season debuts.
The Panthers finished with a 33-25 edge in shots, but went 0-for-4 on the power play and Vincent Trocheck missed the net on a penalty shot.
Defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who finished with 15 goals last season, has just one tally in the first eight games despite a team-high 26 shots on net.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (6-3-0): After a good start to the season with the man advantage, Detroit has gone scoreless in 17 attempts on the power play the last four games.
It hasn't helped that Thomas Vanek, who shares the team lead in goals (four) and points (eight), missed the last two games with a groin injury.
Gustav Nyquist also boasts eight points while fellow forward Darren Helm owns four goals and a plus-10 rating, but the Wings still await the first goal of the season from captain Henrik Zetterberg (10 shots, last two games).
OVERTIME
- The teams split four contests in 2015-16 and the Panthers rolled over the Red Wings 4-1 on Oct. 15 in this season's second game.
- Detroit LW Tomas Tatar, who had an outstanding World Cup for Team Europe, has recorded just one goal in the first nine games despite 28 shots.
- Florida D Keith Yandle, who had a season-high seven shots on goal Saturday, is one shy of 300 career assists.
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