The 1-and-3 Red Wings will try to extend the 0-and-4 Nashville Predators’ misery today (2 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit/Bally Sports South/97.1 FM).
Nashville most recently lost a 4-2 decision to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, while the Red Wings lost a 5-2 decision to the New York Rangers on Thursday.
As MLive’s Ansar Khan notes, both teams’ starts have been disappointing, but the Predators may be facing more pressure heading into today’s game:
“I’m sure they’re desperate, but we’re desperate, too,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “This does not feel good. It’s sporadic play. It’s frustrating where we are with our results. I think it’s two teams that are going to be playing very desperate in an important game early on.”
The Red Wings are coming off back-to-back losses to the New York Rangers while trying to navigate through a tough early season schedule.
Nashville had high hopes after its summer spending spree. First, the Predators locked up franchise goaltending Jusse Saros to an eight-year, $62 million extension. Then they went hog-wild in free agency, inked longtime Lightning center Steven Stamkos (four years at $32 million), right wing Jonathan Marchessault (five years at $27.5 million) and defenseman Brady Skjei (seven years at $49 million).
Stamkos has no points in four games. Saros is 0-3 with a 3.83 goals-against average and .878 save percentage.
The Red Wings’ stats since defeating Nashville 3-0 last Saturday aren’t any better, as the Free Press’s Andrew Birkle notes:
There have been a couple big issues for the Wings so far. The easiest one to point to is the issues with the power play, which is ranked 25th in the NHL as the Wings have scored on just 12.5% of their man advantages, despite many good opportunities.
But really, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Entering Friday’s slate of games, the Wings ranked 30th in penalty kill (64.3%), 30th in face-offs (44.6%), 29th in goals scored (2.25 per game) and 23rd in goals against (3.75 per game).
To try and get things heading back in the right direction, the Red Wings have called up highly-touted prospect Marco Kasper, who is just 20-year-old but starred in the Wings’ training camp and preseason games.
Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin told Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff that he believes that Kasper is ready for NHL duty:
“He’s got a good toolset,” Larkin said. “He’s a good skater. Probably the thing I like the most is how competitive he is. He uses his body really well. He’s a worker. It’s impressive to see. Hopefully, he can come in and do that for us.”
Kasper, chosen eighth overall in 2022, is seen as a significant piece for the future of the Red Wings. With the team struggling to get its footing, that future could be arriving ahead of schedule.
“We’re in a spot where I think he’s going to fit in really well,” Larkin said. “He’s competitive. He plays with an edge. He plays hard every night. It’s something we need right now.”
Edit: DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills also noted Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s take on the stakes going into today’s game:
“It’s just frustrating that we are where we are with our results,” Lalonde said. “I think there’s two teams that are going to be playing a very desperate, important game early on.”
The Red Wings embark on their first multi-game road trip of the season after dropping both ends of a two-game set with the New York Rangers this week. Detroit lost, 4-1, at Madison Square Garden on Monday before falling, 5-2, at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday.
Lalonde described Thursday’s setback to the Rangers as “a really frustrating, tough-to-evaluate night.”
“I’m not going to harp on underlying numbers, but we actually had a higher expected goals for, we had more chances for, slot shots were the same, Grade-As were similar,” Lalonde said. “We got crushed on special teams, and you do it to that team, they’ll humble you. A little bit of a message of not good enough. At the same time, it’s a two-game losing streak [that] just happens to be on the front end. We’ve done enough in our process to build off — we can’t let this slide — so this will be a real challenge for us [on Saturday].”
On Friday morning, the Red Wings recalled Marco Kasper from the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions. The move was in response to the potential unavailability of Tyler Motte, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and Andrew Copp, who took a maintenance day on Friday due to illness.
Lalonde said Jeff Petry will return to the lineup on Saturday after missing the last two games with an upper-body injury. The 52-year-old head coach also announced goalie Alex Lyon will start against the Predators.
“Eleven [forwards] and seven [defensemen] is definitely in play,” Lalonde said. “Especially with the way our D are kind of playing out right now.”
MLive’s Tyler Kuehl also posted a game preview…
It has certainly not been an ideal start for the Detroit, who many expect to challenge for a playoff spot once again, but with a number of new faces trying to find their footing, it might take time for the Wings to find their groove.
The Predators have also had their share of problems at the beginning of this campaign, having yet to scratch a mark in the win column. After losing to the Wings, they were hammered at home by the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, before falling 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday in a battle of winless teams.
And NashvillePredators.com’s Brooks Bratten posted a Predators game preview while I was writing this entry, noting that there is no morning skate for either teams, and that Alex Lyon is going to start opposite Juuse Saros:
“We’re not going to fracture and hit the panic button yet,” Preds forward Colton Sissons said following Friday’s practice. “We’ve got too much talent in here, too much character, and guys that have played too long [to panic]. We understand that teams, even great teams, go through stuff like this. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve got to have faith that [this adversity] is going to build us to be more resilient down the line.”
So, what’s most important for Nashville right from the opening puck drop today?
“To play to our identity,” Preds defenseman Brady Skjei said Friday. “We’ve talked a lot about playing faster and being more predictable, and I think just getting back to that style of hockey will make us feel better as a group. Obviously, a win is very important, but just playing with that speed and tenacity that this team plays with is probably the way we want to go forward. [Today’s] a good test for us, and it’s good to get another game against Detroit who beat us earlier.”
“Just get everybody involved into the game right from the get go,” Sissons said. “Keep things simple. Don’t make it difficult on ourselves, and just get to our forechecking game where we’re feeling fast and looking fast and making it hard on the other teams and start wearing them out. If we do that, I think we’ll be in a good spot.”
You can take these stats for what you will:
Nashville is 46-53-(4)-11 all-time against Detroit, including a 27-24-(2)-3 record at Bridgestone Arena.
The Predators are 10-4-1 in their last 15 games against the Red Wings, including six wins in a row from Feb. 23, 2021-Jan. 22, 2022, the franchise’s longest-ever win streak vs. Detroit.
Nashville is 6-2-0 in their last eight home contests against Detroit, outscoring the Red Wings, 24-11, in those contests.
On Feb. 28, 2009, the Predators defeated the Red Wings, 8-0, at Bridgestone Arena. It is tied for the highest margin of victory in a game in franchise history.
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Juuse Saros is 8-3-1 with a 1.79 goals-against average, .934 save percentage and two shutouts in 13 career starts against the Red Wings.
Update: The Athletic also posted “What we’re seeing from each NHL team early in the 2024-2025 season,” and their blurb about the Red Wings was as predictable as the team’s record thus far:
Way too many goals against: The emphasis for the Red Wings this summer was improving their team defense. Or at least, it was supposed to be. Steve Yzerman signed Tyler Motte as a solid defensive forward for the bottom six, and brought in Cam Talbot in goal, but really didn’t do much to change the overall makeup of Detroit’s lineup. The early results have been predictable: Detroit has lost three of its first four games by three goals and already had two midgame goalie changes in that span. Granted, there’s also a shutout win mixed in there — but even that game required Talbot to stop 42 shots. It’s early, but Detroit’s team defense has not looked up to snuff. And that’s a big problem. — Max Bultman
One more thing: Today’s referees are Frederick L’Ecuyer and Furman South; Mark Shewchyk and Scott Cherrey will work the lines.
