Florida has found a winning rhythm; Detroit is trying to recover from a game it let slip away. The Panthers have won three straight and scored five in each of their last two, while the Red Wings lost a two-goal third-period lead Saturday. With very little separating the teams in projected shot volume, Monday’s matchup puts the focus on turning scoring contributions into a result that lasts through the final horn.
Florida answered when its latest game tightened
Anton Lundell scored a hat trick in Friday’s 5–2 win over Winnipeg. Seth Jones added a goal and two assists, while Sam Reinhart also scored, according to the AP report on Florida’s win.
One of Lundell’s goals was particularly timely. Winnipeg had cut the deficit to 3–2 in the third period before he restored Florida’s two-goal cushion. He completed the hat trick into an empty net.
Jones finished October with 18 points, setting a Panthers record for a defenseman in a month. That gives Florida another source of production beyond its forwards, and Friday’s three-point night showed his involvement directly.
The Panthers’ last two wins both came against Winnipeg, which was winless in eight after Friday. Florida has handled a struggling opponent well; Detroit offers a fresh test of whether that scoring can keep coming. The Panthers are 8–4–2 overall, with six wins in their last 10.
Detroit’s scoring was enough to build a lead
The Red Wings lost 5–4 to St. Louis on Saturday despite going ahead 4–2 early in the third period. Lucas Raymond had a goal and an assist, and Emmitt Finnie scored on the power play, per the AP account of Detroit’s late collapse. J.T. Compher and Keegan Kolesar also scored.
Detroit had beaten Edmonton 4–3 and Chicago 4–1 in its previous two games. Three straight four-goal performances give the Wings a concrete offensive response to Florida’s recent success. Saturday’s problem was keeping that work from being undone: St. Louis scored three times in the third to take the win.
The Wings are 6–5–3 overall and have won five of their last 10. Their recent scoring makes them more interesting than a team simply trying to stop a losing run, but closing the game out is the immediate correction.
Similar shot volume leaves room for a swing in net
Our shot projections put Detroit at about 29 and Florida at 28. Neither side has a substantial volume advantage in that comparison, so the goalie matchup deserves attention alongside the recent scorers.
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Gibson is not yet confirmed for Detroit, while Markstrom is confirmed for Florida. The goalie records give them different backdrops: John Gibson stopped 84 of 98 shots across his last five Detroit appearances, a .857 save percentage. That includes Saturday’s 10 saves on 15 shots against St. Louis and a 40-minute appearance at Vancouver.
Jacob Markstrom stopped 90 of 102 shots across five Florida appearances ending October 17, a .882 save percentage. His sample includes a 20-minute appearance at Buffalo. Those outings come from earlier in the season, while Akira Schmid made 22 saves in Florida’s latest win.
The distinction matters when assessing Florida’s winning streak: Markstrom’s record in net is separate from Schmid’s Friday performance. If Gibson starts, a steadier outing would give Detroit’s recent four-goal production more room to hold up.
Recent scoring meets a 5.5 total
The DraftKings moneyline has Florida favored at -175, with Detroit at +145. The Panthers bring the stronger overall record and three consecutive wins; the Wings bring three straight games with four goals. That gives the underdog a supported way to compete if it can protect its own end more effectively.
The total is 5.5. Both teams have supplied meaningful offense lately. The two goalie samples were also below .900, though Markstrom’s earlier outings offer less insight into Florida’s current winning run. The counterweight is Florida’s recent team defending: it allowed only five goals across its three wins. If that holds up, Detroit’s scoring may be harder to sustain than the last three results suggest.
Florida’s strongest case is its combination of timely scoring and fewer goals conceded during this run. Detroit’s response is already visible in Raymond, Finnie and three straight four-goal performances. The decisive improvement for the Wings would be pairing that scoring with a cleaner third period, rather than needing to create more than they did Saturday.
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