DETROIT — The whole strength-of-schedule argument that was going to work against the Red Wings during this playoff chase hasn't yet been much of a thing.

Part of it is that the Wings are playing well, as they did Sunday in defeating Florida, 2-1. It was the fourth consecutive game in which the Wings (36-33-7) have earned points (3-0-1), who continue to hang close to an Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

But this Florida (44-29-4) team didn't at all resemble the defending Stanley Cup-champion Panthers lineup of a year ago. The Panthers were without Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett — arguably their best four forwards — and defensemen Aaron Ekblad (suspension) and Gustav Forsling. The four forwards and Forsling are resting injuries of varying degrees.

Alex DeBrincat (power play, his 35th goal) and J.T. Compher (10th goal) scored second-period goals and goaltender Cam Talbot stopped 32 shots, as the Wings kept their late-season charge moving along.

Florida's Mackie Samsoskevich scored his 15th goal with 20 seconds left in regulation time, cutting the lead to 2-1. But Talbot made a glove save on Anton Lundell with two seconds left to preserve the victory.

It was a decimated Panthers lineup. Somewhat similarly Friday, Carolina rested key players in a 5-3 victory.

Montreal — which currently holds the last wild-card spot (with four-point lead pending Sunday's result in Nashville) — isn't going to rest anyone against the Wings. But to what degree will Florida and Tampa later this week? Or Dallas, New Jersey and Toronto next week?

All are teams who are in the playoffs. To what degree will they rest any players, and what exactly will their motivations be if a seeding position has been set?

Different teams, all the way to the non-playoff teams, have different levels of desperation right now.

"The teams that are in (the playoffs), they have a tendency to stay healthy and cruise in, which could be a good or bad thing. Then there's teams that are just jockeying for position, so these become important nights and then teams in the mix, in the soup if you will, those are dialed in. You're not getting somebody's 'B' game at this time of year. Teams that are out of it, they're playing quite free now and they don't have much on the line and they play free and away they go.

"Each team is different. Some of the teams that are in right now, you take the team we played (Friday, Carolina), if they were in our situation, and they're desperate, I don't know if (Jordan) Staal and (Andrei) Svechnikov would have played or not, I don't know their team. But the ones (teams) that are in, they have a little 'X' by their name (having clinched a playoff berth) and they have the luxury of deciding how to manage their lineup to get ready."

The Wings are definitely in the mix and don't have the luxury of resting anyone. Every game, every possible point, is vital.

"We don't have that luxury," McLellan said of managing the lineup. "You're banged up, hurt, sore, you play. It's just the way it is, and there's nothing wrong with that because if you can get in, you're already playing that type of hockey going into Game 1 (of the playoffs)."

Talbot has gotten the start in each of these past four games in which the Wings have earned points. He wasn't severely tested on Sunday, but he made stops when the Wings had to have them.

Talbot will likely play Tuesday in Montreal in such a pivotal game, but it'll be interesting to see how he's handled the rest of the way.

"It'll be awfully hard for one goaltender to play that much (six games in 11 nights)," McLellan said. "We'll see."

For his part, Talbot wants to play as much as possible in these types of pivotal games.

"I've been feeling good for a while now," Talbot said. "I'm just going out and trying to give us a chance to win. This time of year, you need goaltending and I'm just trying to keep us in games until we can find that big goal."

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