The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses Red Wings defenseman Nick Leddy’s first game vs. his old team, the New York Islanders, tonight:
“A lot of excitement,” said Leddy, who spent the last seven seasons with the Islanders before a July trade brought him to the Red Wings (in exchange for forward Richard Panik and a second-round draft choice).
“For me personally, I’ve played with most of those guys for north of five years. The long playoff runs, some of the tougher years (the Islanders had), and then some of the great years we had together. All those memories and bonds are huge.
“A lot of excitement. (There will) probably have a little nerves out there. I’ve always had great times playing against friends. It’ll be even better playing against some real good friends.”
The strange thing heading into Saturday night is where each team currently sits in the standings, and how, respectively, the seasons have gone.
The Wings are 12-9-3 and have won their last four games. As the schedule curls into December, the Wings have been one of the surprise stories in the NHL.
The Islanders have been too – but for opposite reasons. Entering Saturday’s game, the Islanders were a dismal 5-10-3. But there are likely reasons for the rough start out of the gate.
