The Red Wings enter Monday night with an opportunity to take down the Florida Panthers. They are turning to a former Panther to man the net.
Per Daily Faceoff, via George Richards, Daniil Tarasov will start at goaltender for the Red Wings. Tarasov spent last season in Sunrise, where he made 33 appearances, including 31 starts. While he finished just 13-15-3, he was also part of a Panthers team hit with the injury bug. That said, one of those wins came in that 8-1 thrashing in the 2025-26 season finale against the Red Wings.
Tarasov also showed he made the most of what he had in front of him, and his final numbers weren’t bad. While he recorded no shutouts, Tarasov finished with an .895 save percentage, a 3.05 GAA, and a .548 quality starts percentage.
He has continued that success so far with the Red Wings, recording a .940 save percentage, a 1.40 GAA, a shutout, a .667 quality starts percentage, and a 1-0-2 record. Tarasov has dealt with an injury earlier this season, and he hasn’t seen any playing time since Oct. 20. If he can pick up where he left off, Tarasov should be fine now that the roles are reversed and he is facing his former team.
Still, Detroit’s skaters must bring their best game as they face the rebounding Florida Panthers.
Red Wings Projected Lines And Pairings Against Panthers
Per NHL.com, Alex DeBrincat, Emmitt Finnie, and Viktor Arvidsson look like the first group. Arvidsson is in vintage form, with 14 points and eight goals in 14 games.
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Andrew Copp, and Lucas Raymond are the projected second line. Copp has been Detroit’s most reliable forward at the faceoff circle, with 114 faceoff wins and a 53.3 faceoff win percentage.
While NHL.com listed Michael Rasmussen, Nate Danielson, and J.T. Compher on the third line, Max Bultman noted at noon, “Looks like Danielson may be coming out tonight for Leonard. He and Bernard Docker out there skating as morning skate winds down.”
That would be the recently-promoted John Leonard, who is slated for the fourth line alongside Sheldon Dries and Keegan Kolesar per NHL.com. It will be interesting to see if Leonard plays in favor of Danielson, and where he will land on the bottom six.
Leonard made 11 appearances with the Red Wings last season, and he scored two goals while posting four points. He also showed some grit, logging 12 hits while wearing the Winged Wheel.
The projected defensive pairings remain the same, with Moritz Seider and Ben Chiarot projected for the first, William Wallinder and Justin Faulk for the second, and Andreas Englund and Anton Johansson for the third. Given Bultman’s comments, it will also be worth seeing what Detroit does with Jacob Bernard-Docker.
Red Wings Looking For Redemption Following Halloween Meltdown
Detroit’s third-period collapse vs. the St. Louis Blues is likely still fresh on every player’s mind. But they have an opportunity to get back on track against one of the NHL’s better and most dangerous hockey teams.
Skating into Sunrise and knocking off the Florida Panthers would pay dividends for the Red Wings following their meltdown on Oct. 31. It would also show that their third-period collapse vs. St. Louis was more of an outlier, and not something fans should expect to see often. They will get that chance when the puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET.
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