Red Wings-Penguins morning skate Tweets: Husso starts, Wings to face challenge vs. Pittsburgh

The Detroit Red Wings will open their 2024-2025 season tonight at 8 PM EDT against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and tonight’s game isn’t going to be simple or easy:

Pittsburgh lost their home opener 6-0 to the New York Rangers last night, so they’re going to be in a spoiler’s position this evening.

Tonight’s game has been moved from its original 7 PM start to 8 PM EDT (on Bally Sports Detroit/Sportsnet-Pittsburgh/WWJ Newsradio 950) to accommodate today’s Tigers playoff game, which starts at 6 PM EDT at Comerica Park…

But parking is going to be an expensive nightmare downtown, so even if you’re planning on heading to Little Caesars Arena for the pregame party that starts at 4:30 PM, plan ahead for a real cluster-you-know-what downtown.

Tonight’s game kicks off a stretch of 3 games to be played over the course of the next 5 nights, against the Pens this evening, the Predators on Saturday, and in Manhattan against the Rangers on Monday, so the Wings better be wearing their figurative “work boots” starting tonight.

Per Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Kal, the referees for tonight’s game are Chris Rooney and Pierre Lambert, with Derek Nansen and Tommy Hughes working the lines:

Also of Red Wings Twitter-related note this morning:

I’ll try to post the Lalonde interview when it pops up on WJR.com.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted a game preview as well:

Nothing creates anticipation and excitement like the beginning of a new NHL campaign, and Lucas Raymond said the Red Wings are eager to get going.

“You’ve been waiting all summer, especially how last year ended,” said Raymond, who re-signed an eight-year contract extension with Detroit last month. “I think everyone is a little extra excited to get out there Thursday.”

Detroit finished last season fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 41-32-9 (91 points) record, an 11-point improvement from its 2022-23 campaign. The Red Wings battled for a Stanley Cup Playoffs spot late last season but fell just short, as the Washington Capitals earned the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot because of the regulation wins tiebreaker (32-27).

Michael Rasmussen said he learned a lot from that playoff push.

“I haven’t really experienced that kind of hockey,” Rasmussen said. “For me, and other guys feel this way too, that’s something you’re yearning for and wanting. There’s nothing worse than playing meaningless hockey. We’ve been in those spots in years past, and last year was the most fun hockey I’d probably say a lot of us have played.”

Several players from last season are back and aiming to contribute even more this season, but there are some new faces in the fold. This summer, the Red Wings added defenseman Erik Gustafsson, forwards Tyler Motte and Vladimir Tarasenko, and goalie Cam Talbot.

Anyway, the Red Wings hit the ice at Little Caesars Arena around 10:30 AM this morning…

Published by

George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!