NHL.com’s Jon Lane looks ahead to the resumption of the NHL’s 2024-2025 schedule, which begins on Saturday with the Red Wings’ home game against the Minnesota Wild:
Minnesota Wild at Detroit Red Wings (12:30 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+)
The Red Wings (28-22-5) hold the second wild card in the East, one point behind the Ottawa Senators and one ahead of the Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets. They won seven in a row before losing 6-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Little Caesars Arena on Feb. 8, are 15-5-1 since coach Todd McLellan replaced Derek Lalonde on Dec. 26 and will face the Blue Jackets in the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium on March 1. The Wild (33-19-4) are third in the Central Division after not qualifying for the playoffs last season. Goalie Filip Gustavsson returns from the 4 Nations, where he made two starts for Sweden. His 37 saves in a 2-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at Xcel Energy Center on Feb. 6 was his 63rd with Minnesota, passing Dwayne Roloson (62) for fourth in Wild history.
Continued; the Red Wings then host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, and head to Minnesota on Tuesday to wrap up their home-and-home series.
After that, next Thursday, the Wings host the Blue Jackets, and the Stadium Series beckons on Saturday, March 1st.
That’s 5 games in 8 days, and after a 2-day break, the Wings will play 3 games in 4 nights. The stretch run isn’t just brutal in terms of quality of competition; it’s also very condensed over the course of the last 27 games.
