Updated at 11:18 AM: The Detroit Red Wings kick off their 2026-2027 season against the New York Rangers tonight (6:30 PM EDT start on TNT/97.1 FM).
The New York Rangers have played in two games already: on Tuesday, they lost 3-0 to the Boston Bruins, and last night, goaltender Igor Shesterkin scored a goal as the Rangers defeated Tampa Bay 5-1. As such, the Rangers won’t hold a morning skate today.
As the Free Press’s Helene St. James noted this morning, the Red Wings may be a little rusty given that the Rangers have their sea legs underneath them:
“I think we’re super excited,” Alex DeBrincat said Thursday. “You’re watching the games on TV the past couple nights, and you see the intensity and it looks so fun out there. So we’re definitely excited to get going and start off strong.”
The Wings may have an edge in rest − or they may look rusty against an opponent that already is up and running. Last year, the Wings looked sharp in camp only to flunk their first test, falling 5-1 at home to the Montreal Canadiens in a chaotic performance.
There’s only one way to find out if a lesson was learned.
“The first game, as I’ve shared with you before, is so unpredictable,” coach Todd McLellan said. “You don’t know how it’s going to go. After that, you seem to settle in. Last year we didn’t perform very well on opening night. It gave us a chance to bark a little bit. We put it back together and we were better after that. We went on a little run right away.
“As far as this year goes, it’s a brand new season. Unpredictable to start with. We’ll play the game. The games have been sloppy, in my opinion, watching again last night. If we can eliminate that, we’ll give ourselves a better chance at winning. Come Saturday morning, we’ll have a blueprint, more to work off of.”
Coach McLellan insisted that the Red Wings’ lack of depth up front has a positive aspect for Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond…
“Ice time,” McLellan said. “Those two are going to get a lot of ice time. They played together before, and their analytics have proven to be positive. They both can shoot the puck real well. It’s getting our best players on the ice as much as we can. They seem to have some chemistry right now. We’ll give it a go.
“I keep repeating myself: We’ve got to just react. We’ve got to see what we have and be prepared to change if needed. But we need a starting point, and that’s what we’re going to start with.”
As far as the Rangers are concerned, Field Level Media teed up tonight’s game as follows…
The Rangers already have played two games. After getting blanked 3-0 by the host Boston Bruins on Tuesday, the Rangers bounced back in their home opener, earning a 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
It turned into a historic night as Igor Shesterkin became the first New York goaltender to score a goal. He flung the puck into the empty net at 17:26 of the third period to cap the scoring. Shesterkin raised his stick in the air and was mobbed by his teammates.
“It was a long time in my head,” Shesterkin said, “so I thought that I’d go celebrate in a different way. But like I said, I didn’t see the puck go across the line, and I just was a little bit shy, and I didn’t know what I could do. So maybe next time. I will keep trying to score one more time.”
The whole team was energized by the landmark goal.
“When those moments occur for a team, they’re great moments,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “You can see the raw emotion on the players on the bench. … When he has a moment like that, I think the guys get — they get pretty fired up about it.”
Pavel Dorofeyev and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and an assist for New York on Thursday, while Adam Fox added two assists.
New York Rangers at Detroit Red Wings
6:30 p.m. ET (TNT) | DET -142, O/U: 5.5
The Rangers’ season didn’t get off to the best start, as they couldn’t get a puck past Jeremy Swayman while the Bruins put two past Igor Shesterkin and one into an empty net. It could be worse, though; just ask a Red Wings fan.
Detroit’s captain, Dylan Larkin, asked for a trade, then was stripped of his captaincy upon his return to camp following the lack of a deal and is now out with an upper-body injury; rising star defenseman (and restricted free agent) Simon Edvinsson is without a contract; and the club has not named a permanent GM to handle these matters. Of course, the Wings do have some exciting players that will be taking the ice, including Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat. Let’s see how they can tune out the off-ice issues.
Red Wings rev up
Perhaps no team has had a more interesting offseason than the Detroit Red Wings, attempting to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2015-16. They’ll have a steep road, but it will absolutely be one to watch, as they hit the ice for their season opener against the New York Rangers at Little Caesars Arena (6:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN1). They will be without forward Dylan Larkin, who is set to miss the team’s first two games with an upper-body injury, but they will feature defenseman Moritz Seider, who has played 410 consecutive games since his debut, the longest consecutive games streak by a European-born player to start an NHL career. New York (1-1-0) is coming off a 5-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, punctuated by Igor Shesterkin‘s goalie goal, the first in Rangers history.
And the New York Rangers’ website posted a slate of game notes:
RANGERS RUNDOWN
The New York Rangers head to Detroit for the tail-end of their first back-to-back set of games in 2026-27. The Blueshirts will face the Red Wings for the first time this season in an Original Six matchup on Friday evening (6:30 PM ET – TV: TNT – Radio: ESPN 880 AM).
New York currently has the second-youngest roster in the NHL with a 26.66 average age.
On Thursday, the Rangers scored on one of two power plays and killed off all seven penalties. Since the 2025-26 season, the Rangers’ 24.8 power play percentage ranks fourth in the NHL and their 27.4 penalty kill percentage on the road is tied for fourth.
This season, the Blueshirts rank second in the NHL with 59 hits and are tied for second in blocked shots (35).
The Rangers’ 56.0 faceoff win percentage ranks sixth in the league this season and since 2025-26, are tied for the league lead (54.5).
New York has won eight of their last nine games against the Red Wings, having earned points in 32 of their last 37 games against them (24-5-8), dating back to Mar. 21, 2012.
Adam Fox has tallied seven assists in his last five games against the Red Wings and Oliver Bjorkstrand has recorded at least one point in four of his last five games on the road against them (3G-2A).
Alexis Lafreniere has notched at least one point in three-straight road game against Detroit (1G-3A) and has 12 points (4G-8A) through his last 13 games against them.
Mika Zibanejad has earned a point in four-straight games against the Red Wings (1G-4A) and overall, has points in 15 of his last 17 contests against them (9G-13A).
Trevor Hanson and Kelly Sutherland will referee tonight’s game; Kilian McNamara and Libor Suchanek will work the lines.
Update: Here’s Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff’s Rangers game preview, which includes the team’s lines:
New York Rangers
Story: Former Red Wings first-round draft pick Joe Veleno is New York’s fourth-line center. The Rangers are his fourth Original Six team. Along with Detroit, Veleno has also played for the Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens. Injuries: Joonas Korpisalo (lower-body) is on IR and is listed as week-to-week.
Projected Lines
Gabe Perreault — Mika Zibanejad — Alexis Lafrenière
Oliver Bjorkstrand — JT Miller — Pavel Dorofeyev
Will Cuylle – Noah Laba — Eeli Tolvanen
Tye Kartye – Joe Veleno – Michael Chmelař
Defense Pairings
Vladislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Marcus Pettersson — Sean Durzi
Alberts Smits — Braden Schneider
Goalies
Dylan Garand (Igor Shesterkin is backup)
Subs: Matt Rempe, Matthew Robertson, Scott Morrow
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