Carter Verhaeghe says the Panthers are starting to build something as they go for a fourth straight win against the Red Wings tonight.
Florida sits at 8-4-2 and rides a three-game winning streak, the latest a 5-2 win over Winnipeg on Friday. For a team that has bounced between good stretches and flat ones, a fourth in a row would be its longest run so far.
Verhaeghe put it plainly ahead of puck drop, saying the group is starting to build on something a little bit.
Paul Maurice treated tonight as bigger than one game. The Panthers coach called it a divisional game that is "really, really critical," with every team involved being legit and five points apart.
The standings back him up. Florida is fifth in the Atlantic with 18 points, while Detroit is eighth at 6-5-3 and coming off a 5-4 loss to St. Louis on Saturday.
Verhaeghe also stressed keeping the focus, saying every game is important and that putting a couple together builds confidence and pushes the team in the right direction.
The two playmakers driving Florida's offense
Start with Matthew Tkachuk's four-assist night in Winnipeg, because it fits the pattern. He has 20 points in 14 games, and only 4 of them are goals.
Seth Jones has matched his 16 assists from the blue line. That gives the two of them 32 combined assists in 14 games, and Jones is a +4 on top of it.
The finishing comes from elsewhere. Verhaeghe has 8 goals, four of them on the power play and two game-winners, and Sam Reinhart has 7 goals with 6 coming on the man advantage.
Brady Tkachuk has 8 goals and 15 points of his own, three of those goals on the power play. Brady Tkachuk's eight goals have been a steady source of offense all month.
Reinhart's split is the number to watch. Six of his seven goals have come on the power play, and that is a lot of Florida's scoring tied to one unit staying sharp. If Detroit stays out of the penalty box tonight, someone at even strength has to step up.
Florida has 44 goals through 14 games and a +5 goal differential. Detroit sits at 41 goals for and 43 against, and the Panthers get the first shot at stretching the streak tonight.
Will the Panthers beat the Red Wings tonight for a fourth straight win?
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