DETROIT RED WINGS VS TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 12/29/2019 LIVE 7:00 PM ET

Jeff Blashill liked a lot of what he saw from his team on Saturday night. The Detroit Red Wings coach still didn't get what he wanted -- a much-needed victory.

The Wings will carry a five-game losing streak into Tampa Bay on Sunday night. They scored four or more goals for just the second time in the last 15 games but dropped a 5-4 squeaker against the Florida Panthers.

"We played with the type of emotion and battle level that you have to play with to be successful," Blashill said during a postgame TV interview. "With that said, we've got to do a better job of not giving up easy chances and easy goals. We've got to play just as hard, just as competitive, just as tough, but we've got to play a little bit smarter.

"Certainly one of the better games we've played in a long time."

The Wings had not played since Sunday, when they lost 5-2 to Arizona. They took four days off and returned to practice on Friday.

"Coming out of the break, that was a great effort," Blashill said. "Now we've got to match that effort tomorrow."

Four different Wings scored against Florida, the most significant being Frans Nielsen. He hadn't scored since last season even though he's played regularly.

They'll need to find more sources of offense since top-line forward Anthony Mantha will miss a minimum of four weeks with a rib injury.

Mantha was injured when he was he pulled down by Toronto defenseman Jake Muzzin late in the Wings' 4-1 loss at Toronto on Dec. 21. Mantha was playing just his fourth game after recovering from a knee injury that sidelined him for three weeks.

Mantha got off to a hot start and is still second on the team in goals (12) and points (24).

"It's definitely a key piece to the puzzle that we're missing there," forward Robby Fabbri said. "You hear with every team, next-man-up mentality. That's kind of what we're going to go with this year. We can't rely solely on Moe to score the goals when he's in. Guys are ready to step up, guys are ready to do their part to help turn this around."

Goalie Jonathan Bernier was also injured in that Toronto game, but he could return to action on Sunday.

Tampa Bay edged Montreal 5-4 on Saturday for its second straight victory. It hadn't played since romping past Florida 6-1 on Monday.

Steven Stamkos reached the 800 career point mark with a goal and an assist, and Mitchell Stephens notched his first career goal.

The Lightning began a stretch of 13 games in 21 days on Saturday, including four back-to-backs.

"We're playing catchup right now," Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, who had a career-high four assists against the Canadiens, told the team's website. "We know we have a few games in hand on some teams, but you've got to win those games as well. That's kind of the mentality. We need to catch these teams."

Boston has taken a commanding lead in the Atlantic Division, but Tampa Bay is inching closer toward the second spot.

"Each game is so important for us at this time of the year right now with where we are in the standings. We realize that," Stamkos told the website. "You want to take care of the home ice for sure. It's been a little bit of a grind this year."

Detroit and Tampa Bay will be meeting for the first time this season. They'll play twice more in March and once in early April.