Red Wings coach Dan Watson and defenseman Moritz Seider spoke with DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills about the expectations for the team heading into tonight’s game with the Seattle Kraken (10 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/KONG/KHN/97.1 FM):
“We can be full right now if we want to be, but in late March or April when we’re not full, we’ll regret it if we don’t come and compete tonight,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said after Tuesday’s morning skate at Climate Pledge Arena. “That will be the message tonight. This group has never given us any indication that they’re not ready to go. Expect the same effort, the same grind and the same type of input into the game for most of the nights that we’ve been here.”
In the second half of its weekend back-to-back set, Detroit grinded its way to a 3-2 overtime victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. Alex DeBrincat scored twice, including the game-winning goal in the extra frame, and goalie Alex Lyon made 25 saves to help the Red Wings improve to 12-10-3 on the road this season.
Moritz Seider, who is set to play in his 300th career NHL game on Tuesday, said he believes a huge part of the club’s current win streak has been its defensive structure.
“We try to play really hard in front of our own net,” Seider said. “Obviously, [opponents] are going to get chances, but we try to eliminate second and third opportunities, sweep the crease, make it easier for goaltenders — to let them see the puck as often as we can — and capitalize on our chances. On [Sunday] we didn’t even play our best, but we found a way to capitalize on the limited chances we had and got away with a win.”
Speaking of Detroit’s defense, McLellan confirmed that Jeff Petry (undisclosed) recently underwent surgery and will be “out for about 6-8 weeks, depending on healing time.”
“It’s unfortunate for him as an individual and certainly for our team,” McLellan said about Petry, who has six points (one goal, five assists) in 34 games this season. “But we’re going to work hard with him to get him back.”
