Given the odd ending to the 2019/2020 NHL season, and the even odder playoffs that followed in the middle of the summer, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to many NHL fans across the globe that the 2020/2021 season will have its own complications and abnormalities.

A shortened season, only 56 games, pales in comparison on a scale of abnormality when compared to the new divisions that will dictate opponents and playoff chances for this season only. Most NHL executives remain optimistic that the 2021/2022 NHL season should feature a return to almost entirely normal.

In the meantime, new divisions mean new opponents. It wasn’t always the way, but fans have gotten used to the idea of their favorite team facing off against each team in the league on at least two occasions, with inner-conference and inner-division opponents and rivals being more frequent opponents.

This year, however, until teams make it relatively deep into the playoffs, teams will only face the other teams within their division. Being part of the Central division, Detroit will be facing off against the other seven teams (Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, Nashville, Tampa Bay) eight times each throughout the season, with the top four teams in the Division at season’s end given a playoff berth.

Of the seven other teams in the division, only Florida and Tampa Bay join the Red Wings as familiar opponents from the Atlantic Division. The division that Detroit has called home since the 2013/2014 NHL season. With so many new rivals, what does each new Divisional Rival have in store for Detroit?

Let’s take a deeper look in this brief series, Central Opponents for Dummies, continuing with Detroit’s next opponent of the 2020/2021 season: The Florida Panthers.

2021 Florida Panthers vs Detroit Red Wings

This is already Detroit's second go-around with the Panthers with the Wings dropping both of the previous games against Florida 3-2, with one of the decisions coming in overtime. Florida currently sits second in the Central division behind fellow Floridian team Tampa Bay with an astounding 0.875% points percentage. Detroit, by comparison, currently sits last in the division with 0.250%.

Detroit had lost both games by only one goal leaves a fair amount of optimism for performances against the Panthers, at least as much hope as you can take away from a team who is performing at a rate even worse than last year.

Panthers vs Red Wings: Head-to-Head Roster Comparisons

As far as roster comparisons, Detroit can hang in there but should lose every category statistically. Florida's offense hasn't been all that great yet this season, ranking 18th in the league in goals-for with 29, good for 4th in the division.

But in comparison with offensively starved Detroit who ranks last in the league with 22 goals and last in the division, it's still a category that Florida will take. While 7 goals might not seem like much of a divide, Florida has played 4 fewer games to this point.

Forward Comparisons

Florida's offense is led by superstars Jonathan Huberdeau and Alexander Barkov, who have 12 and 11 points respectively through 8 games. Carter Verhaeghe, a Stanley Cup champion with Tampa Bay last season, has 6 goals and 9 points through 8 games.

Newcomer Patric Hornqvist is averaging a point per game as well, with 5 goals and 3 assists through his first 8 games as a Panther. Worth mentioning is forward Anthony Duclair, who raised some notoriety for himself by being his own agent this past off-season, signing with the Panthers for $1.7M, with 6 assists so far this year.

Defensive Comparisons

Not only do the forwards from Florida pose a significant threat to a Red Wings team without top goal scorer Tyler Bertuzzi, but they've been getting significant contributions from their blue line as well. Keith Yandle and Aaron Ekblad have 7 and 6 points respectively. The top defensive point producer for Detroit, in comparison, is Filip Hronek, with 6 assists through 12 games.

The Blue Line is a battle in which Florida should win with relative ease. Florida ranks 5th in the leagues in goals against with only 23. This comes in spite of statistically poor performance by former Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky, whose sub-0.900% save percentage and goals-against average in excess of 3.5 through 4 starts has given the Panthers some difficulty. Chris Driedger has performed well through 4 in comparison, with a 0.942% S% and 1.72 GAA.

Offensive contributions from the blue line for Florida is only half of the equation. The defensive corps has a significant amount of blocks, and Radko Gudas leads the team with 41 hits through just 8 games, ranking second in the entire league.

Goalie Comparisons

In the net, Thomas Greiss has been performing slightly below average through all of his starts. With Bernier currently injured, it falls on Greiss to perform better than he has. Pickard is currently the backup for Detroit, and it's for the best if he doesn't see any games.

Bobrovsky for Florida has struggled this season as he did last, with his only "good" game being against Detroit in the last 2-game round that the teams played. This is another category that, regardless of Bobrovsky or Driedger starting, Florida should be able to win the goalie battle.

Detroit vs Florida History

The Wings still hold tight to their all-time advantage against the Panthers, going 23-15-5 since the Panthers’ inception to the league in 1993. They're currently on an 8 game losing streak to the Panthers dating back to 12/22/2018, going 0-6-2 in that time.

Despite their great performance through 8 games in the Central Division, The Panthers don't exactly have a rich history to boast of, especially not in comparison with Detroit. Florida routinely sits near the bottom of the league in terms of attendance.

They've only made the playoffs five times in the past 26 seasons that they've played, including one appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996, and also including their qualifying round loss to the New York Islanders last season. If you exclude the asterisk worthy "qualifying round", the last time the Panthers made the playoffs was 2015/2016, losing to the same New York Islanders in the first round.

It's not as though Detroit and The Wings' fans have much to boast of lately, but The Panthers' franchise is one starving for success and sustainability in the southern corner of the United States.

The Wings are also on an 8 game losing streak for the current campaign. Roster difficulties through COVID, plus losing both Bernier and now Bertuzzi, has played no small role in the Wings struggling to get some consistent offense and a win.

Tonight's Venue: BB&T Center

DET All-Time Record vs FLA at the venue: 13-7-3

DET Record: 2-8-2

CBJ Record: 6-0-2

Season Series: 0-1-1

Goaltender DET:

Goaltender FLA:

DraftKings Odds:

DET Moneyline +165, Puckline +1.5 (-127)

FLA Moneyline -225, Puckline -1.5 (-107)

Players to watch (DET): F. Zadina, V. Namestnikov, R. Fabbri

Players to watch (FLA): A. Barkov, A. Ekblad, S. Bobrovsky

Jesse's Prediction: 3-2 Red Wings

Matt's Prediction: 3-2 Red Wings

Mike's Prediction: