Author: George Malik

Of Red Wings-related note ahead of today’s game between the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning (1 PM EST start on ABC/Sportsnet/97.1 FM):

1. DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted a game preview this morning, and he emphasizes the Red Wings’ momentum coming into today’s game:

The Red Wings are 1-1 against the Lightning this season, including a 5-1 loss at AMALIE Arena on Jan. 18 and a 2-0 shutout win at Little Caesars Arena a week later (Jan. 25).

“All [games] are important, especially against a divisional opponent,” Lucas Raymond said. “It always means more, especially the way the standings are right now. But at the same time, for us, we need to play our game. Play the way we’ve been doing for the last seven games, just keep building off of that and getting momentum.”

A 5-4 shootout victory over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday gave Detroit an impressive sweep of its most recent four-game Western road trip, marking the fifth time in franchise history that the club has won every contest on a road swing of at least that length.

“Those buildings are tough to play in and those are good teams,” Red Wings head coach McLellan said. “And to have won games in so many different ways – we won without our power play, with great goaltending, with our power play, with above-average goaltending, not great, penalty kill – that was pretty unique. The trip itself was special, but it’s in the past now.”

An important piece down the middle, J.T. Compher (upper body) is expected to return to Detroit’s lineup on Saturday. The 29-year-old forward, who hasn’t played since Jan. 25, has missed the last five games.

“I felt pretty good the rest of that game [on Jan. 25], then obviously something that knocked me out for a little bit,” Compher said. “I felt like we did a good job getting back into the swing of things, and good to have these two practices at home [on Thursday and Friday] before I hopefully get out there.”

2. The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton offers this quote in his game preview:

“I dislike the last and first games coming out of All-Star breaks or Christmas breaks or whatever, just because it can get away on you,” Todd McLellan cautioned after Friday’s practice. “One o’clock in the afternoon game, [the players] are probably waking up in the morning, and some of their wives got bags packed for the kids already and stuff like that. We have a task in front of us, and we expect a lot from each other. So while there will be distractions and things that can pull you away from the game, expectations are high that we give each other everything we have.”

3. Diandra Loux posted a preview from the Lightning’s perspective:

Daniella Bruce and Ken Kal preview today’s game vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning (1 PM EST start on ABC/Sportsnet/97.1 FM) on a new episode of the Forecheck:

Back at it this morning with @KenKalDRW !! Can the @DetroitRedWings make it 8 in a row ?👀 #LGRW pic.twitter.com/egsakKy0vl

— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) February 8, 2025

The 28-21-and-5 Detroit Red Wings face off against the 29-20-and-4 Tampa Bay Lightning later today (1 PM EST start on ABC/Sportsnet/97.1 FM) in a game that has both Wild Card and Atlantic Division playoff implications.

The Red Wings currently sit at 61 points, tied with the Ottawa Senators for a Wild Card spot, and they sit one point behind the Lightning, who have a game in hand on Detroit–a game that will be spent when the Bolts head to Montreal to play the Canadiens on Sunday afternoon (1 PM on the NHL Network).

Things have been going well for Tampa Bay of late: they’re 3-0-and-1 in their last 4 games, and they swept the Ottawa Senators 4-3 and 5-1 on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, at Amalie Arena.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper told the Tampa Bay Times’ John Romano that he wants the Bolts to go into the Four Nations Cup break with a pair of victories:

Per InGoal Magazine’s YouTube channel:

Episode 290 of the InGoal Radio Podcast, presented by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports (https://www.thehockeyshop.com/) , features 12-year NHL veteran Cam Talbot of the Detroit Red Wings.

In the feature interview presented by NHL Sense Arena (https://hockey.sensearena.com/store) , Talbot shares great advice and insights into working with new voices and incorporating new ideas when you work with a new goalie coach, something he’s done a lot with four different teams over the past four seasons. He explains what ideas have stuck and remained a part of his game now during a great starts with the Red Wings, and how his work with Vizual Edge has led to two NHL All Star Game appearances in the past three seasons, as well as how he uses it daily during the season and how specifically it has helped.

Red Wings informal ambassador Henrik Zetterberg was asked by Expressen’s Vendela Ohgren to weigh in regarding the Four Nations Face-Off, and here’s what he had to say:

“I feel sorry for the Russian players”

Russia continues to be shut out from the World Championship

Henrik Zetterberg feels for the players.

“I feel sorry for the Russian players who have the right intentions,” he says.

The Tre Kronor are getting reayd for the Four Nations Face-Off. Sweden, Finland, Canada and the United States are going to play a mini-tournament.

The best NHL players are pitted against each other.

“Sweden has a good team, and they have leading roles in their teams. I know that when you come to the national team at those tournaments, it will be an incredibly lovely cohesion and it will be a fun break from the normal NHL grind,” says Henrik Zetterberg.

The 44-year-old hockey icon thinks it will be a tight tournament.

“I think Sweden will play well. There will be small margins between those who win and those who come in last. Any team can beat any other team. But I have a gut feeling that Sweden will do well.”

MLive’s Ansar Khan praises Moritz Seider as his ascent continues among the Red Wings’ “iron men“–and among the ranks of the team’s best defensemen:

Seider’s ironman streak reached 300 games Tuesday in Seattle. That’s 45 short of John Ogrodnick’s club record for consecutive games to start a career.

“Fortunate to play every single game, just try to continue that,” Seider said. “If you’re not severely injured, I think you always find a way to get yourself going and be out there. I take a lot of pride in being ready every single time. Hopefully, I can continue that for a long time here.”

The Red Wings (28-21-5) will try to extend their winning streak to eight games Saturday when they host Tampa Bay in the final game before a 13-day break for the 4 Nations Face-Off (1 p.m., ABC).

They are coming off their first 4-0 trip since 1996, a swing that started with a 3-2 shootout victory at Edmonton in which Seider logged a career-high 30:44. That’s the most minutes for a Red Wing since Nicklas Lidstrom played 32:12 against San Jose on Feb. 11, 2010.

Seider, in his fourth season, is averaging 25:15 per game, nearly three minutes more than he did last season (22:21).

“I think everyone is working really hard in the summertime to get that base, the foundation that you want to have for playing those kind of minutes,” Seider said. “The game gets easier the more you play. I feel like things are just happening a lot more natural. You don’t think as much out there. Things are coming instantly and you don’t have enough time to think about what happened the shift before.”

Seider was asked about his leadership qualities after being praised by Patrick Kane for “going up and down the bench” to remind the Wings to stay confident against the Seattle Kraken, and here’s what he had to say:

“I just go out and try to have fun, but also lead by example,” Seider said. “I wouldn’t say I’m the loudest guy by any means. I just try to get a little bit of spark or motivation going when things aren’t going our way. After they tied the game late in Seattle, I just try to remind the guys that we’re a really good hockey team. We can play with everybody, we can definitely score here, and even if we go into overtime or the shootout, we’ll have the better outcome on our side.”

Continued (paywall)

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff affords Red Wings coach Todd McLellan and forward Alex DeBrincat the opportunity to praise the Red Wings’ goaltending duo of Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot:

“I think it’s essential,” McLellan said of having two goalies he can count on. “Often you have two goalies but one’s not playing as well so you run the hot one and try to get the other one playing again.”

McLellan was able to alternate his goalies during the club’s four-game Western win streak. As the team comes home to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, Alex Lyon gets the nod in net.

“We’re fortunate both are playing well and contributing to the team’s success,” McLellan said. “They play off each other, they both practice hard. We haven’t had to go and rescue a goalie yet, if I’m trying to find a word, recover and rescue a goalie that hasn’t played well and overrun another one. So that makes the dual goaltender luxury even better.”

…

“They’ve been awesome,” Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat said. “Big saves when we need them. They’re our best players right now. Hopefully they can keep that going.”

Lyon is 8-2-1 in his last 11 decisions. He allowed two goals or fewer in five of his last six starts and hasn’t lost back-to-back games since mid-November.

Counterpart Cam Talbot has won five games in a row and his save percentage has finished above .920 in four of those five wins. He is 10-1 over his past 11 decisions. He’s allowed two goals or fewer in seven of his last 10 starts.

Continued

Here’s Red Wings forward Patrick Kane speaking with WDIV’s Hobie Artigure:

"I don't think anyone is satisfied with where we're at, but definitely confident."

Red Wings forward Patrick Kane is feeling healthy & ready for his team to make a push.

More from Kane & our @Local4News crew on how the Wings have turned their season around. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/qT59Jzwcnd

— Hobie Artigue (@HeyItsMeHobie) February 7, 2025

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed his afternoon notebook article, discussing the Red Wings’ desire to close out their pre-Four Nations Face-Off schedule with a crucial win against the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow (1 PM EST start on ABC/Sportsnet/97.1 FM):

“I dislike the last and first games coming out of the All-Star breaks or Christmas breaks or whatever,” McLellan said. “Because it can get away on you. A 1 p.m. afternoon game (Saturday), so they’ll probably be waking up in the morning and their wives have the bags packed for the kids already and stuff like that. We have a task in front of us and we expect a lot from each other. So while there will be distractions, expectations are high from player to player and from coach to player and back and forth, that we give each other all we have. Let’s focus and get it done.”

Forwards Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond aren’t getting much of break since both will competing in the 4 Nations Face-Off; Larkin for Team USA and Raymond for Sweden. But both feel the Wings will be ready mentally to finish this part of the regular-season schedule the right way.

“All of the games are important,” Raymond said. “Against divisional opponents, it always means more, especially the way the standings are right now. But at the same time for us, we need to play our game and the way we’ve been doing it the last seven games and just keeping that momentum.”

Still, regardless of Saturday’s outcome, the Wings will be heading into the break in a significantly better frame of mind knowing they are in the thick of the playoff chase and the season has been transformed by the 15-4-1 record since McLellan has taken over.

“With the way we’ve been playing and how our line is playing, before Christmas I remember thinking just maybe trying to get there (in the schedule), grinding mentally to get there and something to look forward to,” Larkin said. “The way the guys have responded post-Christmas and the way things are going, you almost don’t want to stop when you get on a roll like this. The break will be good for guys but when you are playing this well, you want to keep it going and keep playing.”

Continued (paywall)

Red Wings forward Patrick Kane spoke with WXYZ’s Brad Galli about the team’s turnaround under coach Todd McLellan: