from Ansar Khan of Mlive,
The Red Wings (30-38-10) had their moments, but the Panthers had a strong response each time. Gagner opened the scoring 4:08 into the game, but Florida scored three times in the final 11 minutes of the period. Tyler Bertuzzi notched his 28th goal at 6:15 of the second period to get his team within a goal, but MacKenzie Weeger answered for Florida at 16:05.
“They’re different stylistically then some other teams we’ve played,” Gagner said. “They seemingly can create offense out of nothing. Even when you feel like you are playing well against them, they find ways to create odd-man breaks. Their defense is as good as any at finding guys up ice open.
“Just another learning experience for us to keep building and keep being consistent with it.”
The Red Wings are 2-3 during a rugged late-season six-game stretch capped by Saturday’s home finale against Pittsburgh (12:30 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit).
Even in defeat, there is something to be taken from these matchups against top competition.
“You get a chance to measure yourselves and see what you’re good enough at, what you’re not good enough at,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “That’s important, both as a hockey team and as individuals. If each one of us take it and look at it like a ‘How can we be better?’ approach, then it’s always valuable. That growth mindset is important.”
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