The Red Wings will play 2 games over the course of less than 24 hours tonight in Calgary (10 PM EST on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/CBC/Sportsnet/City/97.1 FM) and tomorrow in Vancouver, and the team then proceeds on to battle the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.
As such, DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills asked Ben Chiarot and coach Todd McLellan about the road ahead:
“It’s part of the grind of the season,” Ben Chiarot said. “I think we just embrace it, honestly, and look forward to it. It’s a good challenge for us. Get as many guys going as we can here.”
Head coach Todd McLellan said the Red Wings have plenty of off-ice resources to help them navigate this busy stretch of schedule.
“We, like 31 other teams in the League, employ real good people,” McLellan said. “They are trained to guide and direct us in managing the group as far as nutrition, rest and energy expenditure. We certainly listen to them. There are times when the coach will trump all that because something needs to get done. Likely, this won’t be the trip. It’s not easy playing three [games] in four [nights], but it’s not easy doing it out West here. The travel between games is a little bit tougher.”
In the first game of its four-game road trip, Detroit overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2, in a shootout on Thursday. Notably, netminder Alex Lyon was strong between the pipes, making a season-high 45 saves.
“In Edmonton, we had a slow start but were able to kind of find our game as it went on,” Chiarot said. “It’s important for us to get pucks to the net early and get the other team off balance.”
McLellan said aside from goalie Cam Talbot starting in Calgary, there won’t be any changes to the Red Wings’ lineup from Thursday’s shootout win.
“He’s real steady,” McLellan said about Talbot, who has won his last three starts. “He’s there early in games when we need him, especially on the road. I think not only the saves, but his game-management skills help us out a lot. He knows when to slow it down or speed it up for us, and that’s real important.”
