Author: George Malik

I posted a preview ahead of tonight’s game between the Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks (6 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Extra/Victory+/KCOP-13/97.1 FM), and this afternoon, the Ducks and Red Wings’ respective websites posted previews as well.

Here’s what AnaheimDucks.com has to say about tonight’s game:

Anaheim hits the midway point of a three-game road trip looking to replicate a strong performance Saturday night in Boston, a 3-2 overtime victory clinched by Leo Carlsson’s game-winning goal.

“I thought we were really good in the first period, on our toes and on the puck a lot,” head coach Greg Cronin said. “Second period turned into a special teams game…In the third period it was a typical kind of a playoff game. You have to eliminate any scoring chances against and keep the puck in their zone. For the most part, we did a good job in that department.”

Emerging from the 4 Nations Face-Off break with a fourth consecutive win, and the club’s seventh in the last eight games, the Ducks are now 25-24-7 on the season, just seven points back of a Western Conference Wild Card position.

“We’ve had that confidence since before Christmas time,” Cronin said, referencing wins over Winnipeg, Edmonton and New Jersey in December. “Those are games I call benchmark games, you know you can compete with anyone in the league. Now we just need to keep finding ways to get better as a group.”

The preview continues, discussing goaltender John Gibson’s injury, and Lukas Dostal’s status as a viable back-up goalie…

And DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills discusses the redemptive quality of today’s game, given that the Wings lost to Minnesota yesterday at this time:

The 28-22-and-6 Detroit Red Wings host the 25-24-and-6 Anaheim Ducks this evening (6 PM start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit Extra/Victory+/KCOP-13/97.1 FM), with the Wings having lost 6-4 to Anaheim way back on November 15th.

As the Ducks make their own playoff push, the Red Wings find themselves in an incredibly tight battle for Wild Card positioning in the Eastern Conference:

On Saturday night, the Anaheim Ducks won a 3-2 overtime decision over the Boston Bruins, despite blowing a 2-0 lead, and Anaheim has won 4 straight games and 7 of their last 8, so they’re no pushover–but they lost starting goaltender John Gibson to an injury on Saturday, as the Associated Press reports:

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin recapped his experiences in the Four Nations Face-Off while speaking with the media after Detroit’s 4-3 OT loss to Minnesota on Saturday afternoon, as noted by the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan…

Larkin was one of the best stories on a USA team that had many of them during the wildly entertaining tournament. Beginning on the fourth-line in mainly a checking role, Larkin rose in the lineup.

Larkin had the eventual winning goal, and had an assist, in USA’s 3-1 victory over Canada during the round-robin. That prompted USA coach Mike Sullivan to elevate Larkin, who eventually got more of a top-six forward role as injuries mounted and Larkin maintained his level of effectiveness.

“I stuck to who I am, and I did everything I could to help the team,” Larkin said. “Whether it was bringing energy or trying to be a voice in the room, that’s what I tried to do — and I was happy to do it. “

Larkin was thrilled to be part of the tournament, with what became a close-knit USA team.

“We had such a great group of guys, it was so good to be around everyone,” Larkin said. “We had the history of playing with each other, whether it was (Plymouth Township-based) NTDP (National Team Development Program), or world championships, or other teams. We got along real well and it was just a great experience. I did whatever I could to help the team.”

The excitement of the games, and the importance, is something that could energize Larkin and Raymond even further, to end what has been an eight-year Wings streak of missing the NHL playoffs.

“The games were so intense and so much fun,” Larkin said. “It was a disappointing end for us (USA) and I’m sure Ray (Raymond) will say the same (for Sweden). It was definitely a huge motivator to come back and play today and push our team to make the playoffs.”

And the Free Press’s Helene St. James…

The Detroit Red Wings lost a 4-3 overtime decision to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, blowing 2-0 and 3-1 leads in the process.

Sportsnet happened to post overtime, which ended poorly for the Red Wings, as Marco Rossi raced out of the penalty box, fanned on a breakaway shot on Cam Talbot, but Talbot fanned on the save, too, and the puck rolled over the goal line:

There was bad news after the game, too, as Andrew Copp hurt his arm trying to defend Alex DeBrincat in a 2nd period kerfuffle…

Todd McLellan said Andrew Copp (undisclosed) doubtful for Red Wings Sunday vs. Ducks.

— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) February 22, 2025

The Red Wings will play against the Anaheim Ducks (who are in Boston to play the Bruins this evening) tomorrow at 6 PM EST (FanDuel SportsNet Detroit Extra/Victory+/97.1 FM), so they’ll get the chance to steady themselves against a surprisingly solid Anaheim team, but then the Wings head to Minnesota on Tuesday for a rematch with the pesky Wild…

And then comes the home-and-home with Wild Card pursuer Columbus that will lead up to the Stadium Series.

All in all, the Wings will play 5 games over the course of 8 nights, and they’re all consequential at this point, so losing out on a second point against Minnesota stings, and stings badly…

In no small part because the Red Wings came out of a two-week break playing utterly sloppy hockey. The Wings’ effort, intensity and execution were all present on Saturday, but their “fit and finish” was terrible at times, and that sapped the team’s at least tolerable work ethic.

For the Wild, earning a victory in Detroit was winning an uphill battle against both the Red Wings and the referees, as they told The Athletic’s Joe Smith…

The Detroit Red Wings began their post-Four Nations Face-Off schedule with a matinee game against the Minnesota Wild, kicking off a back-to-back slate of games (with a Sunday tilt against the Ducks squeezed into Detroit’s schedule) between the two teams.

On Saturday afternoon, the Red Wings lost a matinee that stung.

Detroit took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Alex DeBrincat, a 2-0 lead 5:41 into the 2nd on a disputed goal by Dylan Larkin, and after Vinnie Hinostroza tipped home a 2-1 goal, Lucas Raymond made it 3-1 early in the 3rd on the power play…

But Matt Boldy chipped into the lead at 13:07, Marcus Foligno tied the game at 18:29, and in overtime, Marco Rossi raced out of the penalty box, fanned on his shot on Cam Talbot, and Talbot fanned on his save, affording the Wild a 4-3 OT win at 3:35 of OT.

This was a penalty-filled game full of heavy hits, including one in which Andrew Copp injured his right arm trying to elbow Matt Boldy up high, and Detroit…

Just didn’t have its details right. The work ethic was fine, the fit and finish was not. So they got burned.

I haven’t been following the Red Wings’ prospects on a daily basis of late due to some health issues and plain old burnout, but I’m still watching their progress.

This morning, Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen shines a spotlight on Moncton Wildcats goaltender and Wings prospect Rudy Guimond, who’s been on fire since he left the USHL for the QMJHL:

Goalie Rudy Guimond’s in-season decision to jump from his United States Hockey League team (Cedar Rapids) to Moncton of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) continues to pay dividends. He’s 11-0 for Moncton.

Guimond (169th, 2023) posted 20 saves in Moncton’s 6-0 win against Cape Briton Friday for his second career shutout in the league.

The Yale-bound Guimond Moncton shows a 1.61 GAA and .944 save percentage for a Moncton team that boasts the QMJHL’s best record (42-9-2).

Detroit’s goalie prospect list includes Michigan State’s Trey Augustine, plus Grand Rapids Griffins’ Sebastian Cossa and Toledo Walleyes’ Carter Gylander.  Now, the Red Wings will decide whether the 6-foot-4 Guimond fits into that mix.

Given that Guimond could go to Yale for up to four years, the Wings won’t have to make that decision tomorrow.

I posted a Red Wings-Wild game preview overnight, but there are more game previews from other sources ahead of today’s game (12:30 PM EST start on ABC/ESPN+/97.1 FM), so let’s read them:

1. DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills notes that today’s game begins a back-to-back slate of games, with the Red Wings hosting the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, before the Red Wings will head to Minnesota on Tuesday to wrap up the home-and-home series. Overall, the Wings will play 3 games in 4 nights–and 5 in 7, including the Stadium Series–so that’s a difficult schedule ahead:

“A 12:30 p.m. game [on Saturday] and a 6 p.m. game [on Sunday], so there’s definitely enough time to recover,” Joe Veleno said. “Especially both [games] at home, I think that’s pretty advantageous. Guys are eager to get going again.”

The Red Wings last played on Feb. 8, when they had both their seven-game winning streak and eight-game point streak end with a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Todd McLellan said he believes Detroit has done a good job overall of rising to challenges since he became head coach on Dec. 26. However, McLellan acknowledged the club fell short of doing that against Tampa Bay and, as a result, he’s expecting more out of his players come Saturday afternoon.

“We got scored on four times [in the first period], should have been six or seven with some of the chances [the Lightning] missed,” McLellan said. “I was disappointed because I don’t think we accepted that challenge. I think we gave ourselves permission to get to the break four hours early. We can’t afford that, and it’s unacceptable. We did take them back to that [on Tuesday]. Not with video, just with a conversation.”

The Red Wings enter Saturday holding the Eastern Conference’s second Wild-Card spot with 27 regular-season games remaining. Like many of his teammates, Lucas Raymond said this upcoming stretch run really excites him.

“[The 4 Nations Face-Off] was an unreal experience, but at the same time, it’s really nice to be back with the guys again and putting on the Winged Wheel,” said Raymond, who recorded three assists in three games with Sweden at the international event. “I think I’m even more excited for what’s to come now, so just excited to get back, get ready for [Saturday] and take it from there.”

Mills continues…

2. If you want a blast from the past, MinnesotaWild.com’s Zoe Fielder offers this retrospective on the Wings-Wild series from a year ago:

The NHL offers a cute animation of the countdown to next Saturday’s Stadium Series game between the Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets (6 PM EST start on ESPN/TVA Sports/97.1 FM):

With just seven days until the @BlueJacketsNHL host the @DetroitRedWings in the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL #StadiumSeries, here are seven #NHLStats before the teams march into Ohio Stadium. 🥁🎺

Tune in on March 1 (6 p.m. ET on ESPN, TVAS-D, FX-CA). pic.twitter.com/sisdvWauNx

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 22, 2025

The Red Wings will face the Minnesota Wild on ABC today (12:30 PM EST start), and Ken Kal and Kara Wolfbauer preview today’s affair on the latest episode of “The Forecheck”:

.@DetroitRedWings hockey is back & @KenKalDRW & @karawolfbauer are holding down the fort in Detroit this weekend. 27 game sprint starts now 👀💪🏻 #LGRW pic.twitter.com/emXzkP3wTL

— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) February 22, 2025

MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Red Wings coach Todd McLellan and forward J.T. Compher regarding the team’s hopes regarding playing more consistent hockey during this season’s 27-game stretch run.

As Khan notes, the Red Wings’ inconsistent play down the stretch last season cost them a playoff spot, and coach McLellan knows it:

“The value of two points is no different on any game day 82 times a year,” McLellan said. “I don’t like talking about last year because I wasn’t here but I know what happened – empty net, pull the goalie (Flyers vs. Capitals) and not in (on the final day of the season). But that wasn’t what prevented them from getting in the playoffs. There was a game during the year where they gave themselves permission – ‘You know what, it’s not that important tonight,’ and they played poorly and it cost them. Let’s hope that Tampa game (6-3 loss Feb. 8) wasn’t our night. It’s hard to play at an extremely high level all the time. The other team gets credit for what they put into it. All 82 games are equally as important.”

That was the message he was trying to impart this week.

“It’s just to take every game as a chance to get two points and don’t waste any of them,” J.T. Compher said. “We obviously learned that the hard way last year, and it’s on us to treat every game with the intensity and the focus that we need to give ourselves the best chance to make the playoffs.”

So the Red Wings’ players were told to not let their “effing habits slip” by McLellan on Thursday, and McLellan hopes that his charges are listening as the team’s four-day mini-camp comes to a close:

“Our practice habits have been fairly good,” McLellan said. “(On Thursday), we had to stop a couple of times and say, ‘Let’s go back to doing it right.’ and they responded right away. But unless we do that, they’re not going to fix it on their own. So those practice habits are important.

“And then there’s a lot of challenges that we’ve thrown at them in a month-and-a-half, and they’ve been willing to accept the challenge and try to meet it. Those are habits we want to continue, whether it’s the starts, whether it’s fix the penalty kill. Those are habits and they have to remain high.”

Continued