It’s 9 a.m on a game day and the Detroit Red Wings have not recalled Sebastian Cossa on an emergency basis.  That tells us the Gibson injury suffered Sunday will not keep him from dressing for tonight’s road game against the Florida Panthers.

With the Red Wings off Monday, there is no update about the status of captain Dylan Larkin.

Tonight’s game against the Panthers is important because every game is critical until the Red Wings clinch a playoff spot for the first time in 10 years.  The Panthers beat Detroit 3-1 four days ago in Detroit. With 18 games remaining, Detroit (36-21-7) is third in the Atlantic Division with 79 points. Projections suggest a team will need 93 to 97 points to earn an Eastern Conference wildcard spot.

If it 93 points, the Red Wings need another seven wins to qualify. If it’s 97 points, they would need to play .500 hockey the rest of way, earning 18 points out of the last 36 points.  The Red Wings play Florida, Tampa Bay and Dallas to finish this road trip.  The Red Wings are 18-10-4 on the road.

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

Tomas Holmstrom is the latest ex-Red Wings to try his hand at coaching

Dominik Shine is the oldest Detroit player to score his first NHL goal since Vaclav Nedomansky

Coach Todd McLellan’s squad played a superb road game to down the New Jersey Devils 3-0.

Red Wings Extra

UMass defenseman Larry Keenan had two goals and four assists in his first 21 games and now has five goals and seven assists in his last 13 games. He’s a promising 6-foot-4 defenseman with the NHL in his DNA. His grandfather (same name) played for the Toronto Maple Leafs St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers off and on from 1961-1972. No. 15-ranked UMass has a Hockey East quarterfinal game Saturday. Neither Keenan, nor the Red Wings, have said anything about his future, but there has been rumbling that he will sign with the Red Wings after this collegiate season. That would likely mean some time with the Griffins. But all of this is speculation.

Larry Keenan(4th round’23)
1 Goal 1 Assist +1 2/3 SOG 2BLKs in a 4-2 win#LGRW pic.twitter.com/7IEDU0ZWZ0

— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) March 8, 2026

Hockey Now Digest

Boston: Jack Studley writes about how the Bruins second line is stepping up to help with the playoff push. Boston Bruins. 

Florida: Brad Marchand won’t play Tuesday against the Red Wings. Could the Panthers being thinking about shutting him down? Florida Panthers. 

San Jose: Sheng Peng offers that GM Mike Grier make the right decision on the rumored Simo- Nemec-William Eklund deal. San Jose Sharks.