Author: George Malik

At the World Junior Championship in Ottawa:

Jesse Kiiskinen scored a goal on 1 shot in 12:59 of playing time as Finland took a 4-3 overtime decision over Sweden. Axel Sandin Pellikka finished even with 4 shots in 29:52 of ice time for Sweden.

Sandin Pellikka had this to say to Expressen’s Tim Dahlbacka and Johan Eriksson:

“It sucks. I think we played our hearts out there, so it sucks, especially when you feel that you deserve the final place,” says Sweden’s team captain Axel Sandin-Pellikka.

“We had the feeling all along that ‘we had them.’ The third period is the best period I’ve ever seen a team play, they had three shots and we had 20. It sucks,” the captain said.

In the other semifinal, Trey Augustine stopped 26 of 27 shots as Team USA won 4-1 over Czechia. Max Plante was scratched finished even in 11:10 played for the Americans.

Team USA and Team Finland will play for the Gold Medal on Sunday at 7:30 PM EST, on the NHL Network and TSN; Team Sweden and Czechia will battle for Bronze on Sunday at 3:30 PM on the NHL Network and TSN.

According to FloHockey’s Chris Peters, Augustine set a USA Hockey record on Saturday:

The Grand Rapids Griffins suffered a setback on Saturday night, losing a 2-1 decision to the Milwaukee Admirals. The Griffins’ website posted a recap:

MILWAUKEE — A hectic first period saw the Grand Rapids Griffins fall into an early deficit, as they suffered a 2-1 loss against the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday at the Panther Arena. 

The Griffins’ lone tally was a short-handed goal from Dominik Shine, good for his 10th goal of the year and his fifth point in the last six outings (5-1—6). The short-handed score was Grand Rapids’ fifth of the season and its second against the Admirals in five meetings. Sebastian Cossa saved 18 shots in his first appearance since Dec. 17 when the Griffins faced Texas. Despite the loss, Cossa sustained a .918 save percentage and a 2.30 goals-against average.  

The Detroit Red Wings took a 4-2 victory from the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night, winning their 4th consecutive game under coach Todd McLellan.

The Red Wings received goals from Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat and an empty-netter from Larkin as the team never relinquished its first-period, power-play lead, Raymond also had 2 assists, and Moritz Seider had 3 assists for the Wings, who were back-stopped to victory by Alex Lyon (23 saves).

Detroit will head home to entertain the Senators on Tuesday and the Blackhawks on Friday, so the Wings earn Sunday off as a “travel day”…

For the Jets, who lost defenseman Colin Miller to an injury and Josh Morrissey for a period of time due to a cut upper lip, losing their 3rd game in a row (0-2-and-1) and second to a team below the playoff cut line was worrisome, as they told the Winnipeg Sun’s Paul Friesen:

The Detroit Red Wings took on the NHL-best 27-11-and-2 Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, attempting to add to Winnipeg’s 0-1-and-1 streak while pushing the McLellan winning streak to 4 games.

On Saturday night, one could argue that the Red Wings rode their 1st period effort to a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, but the game is not that simple, and the Red Wings were better than that.

Dylan Larkin opened the scoring only 6:25 into the game with a power play goal, and Lucas Raymond scored a PP marker 4:33 into the 2nd to make it 2-0, but the Jets scored only a minute-and-change later to make it 2-1 on a Josh Morrissey goal, and things were tight after that.

Alex DeBrincat made it 3-1 at 7:14 of the 3rd, but the Jets hung in there and stuck around, with Ehlers scoring the 3-2 marker at 16:45 of the 3rd…

But with 28.4 seconds left, after some masterful defensive work, Dylan Larkin score the empty-net gamer from Seider, who had 3 assists on the night.

Alex Lyon stopped 21 of 23 shots, got help from 4 goalposts, and was generally very good, and the Wings had a superb stem-to-stern effort from the entire roster.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted an early-evening preview of tonight’s game between the Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets (7 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet West/97.1 FM). The Red Wings hope to earn some revenge for a 6-0 home loss to Winnipeg on October 30th:

“We’re playing a lot better. Three in a row now, would be a huge win if we get one tonight and keep it going,” Andrew Copp said. “We’re feeling good about the direction we’re heading and some of the changes that were made. It’s up to us to find a way to keep some momentum going for January here.”

Playing with plenty of confidence since the calendar year turned to 2025, Detroit is coming off a 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. The Red Wings saw their two goal first-period lead erased by the Blue Jackets, and the Eastern Conference clubs battled back and forth before Jonatan Berggren netted the go-ahead tally with 36 seconds remaining in regulation.

“When the spirit is high, you have an opportunity to advance as a team,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “You can give the players something new to bite off, adjust the forecheck and neutral zone or whatever you want. When the spirit is a little ragged, you spend a lot of time just on that. We have been able to advance. The spirit has been good. Obviously, winning helps but there will be ebbs and flows throughout the year.”

After Saturday’s morning skate, McLellan announced that Jeff Petry, who exited midway through the third period on Saturday, will not play in Winnipeg. As a result, Albert Johansson will take Petry’s place in the lineup.

“He’s been waiting patiently,” McLellan said about Johansson. “He’s worked really hard in practice and he’s going to get his opportunity, so we’re really excited about that.”

Continued

The Winnipeg Free Press’s Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe offer the following post-morning skate article form the Jets’ perspective ahead of tonight’s game between Detroit and Winnipeg (7 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet West/97.1 FM):

We take you back to Oct. 30 in Detroit, where local product Kyle Connor had a huge night against his hometown club and eclipsed the 500-point mark for his career after recording a goal and two assists. You could tell the Winnipeg Jets winger had some extra giddy-up in his step that night.

So what might fellow Michigan product Connor Hellebuyck have in store tonight as his Jets host the Red Wings for the only time this season? We remind you that Winnipeg’s two-time Vezina Trophy winner needs but one victory to become just the 30^th goaltender in NHL history with at least 300 wins and 40 shutouts.

“He’s been awesome for us. We just want to go out and play our game and give it our all,” forward Mark Scheifele said following his team’s optional morning skate.

Hellebuyck could have hit the milestone on Thursday night, but the Jets blew a late third-period lead and ultimately fell 4-3 in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks. That left the team winless in its last two (0-1-1) following a four-game winning streak, although they continue to lead the NHL with 56 points (and sit second in point percentage behind the Vegas Golden Knights).

Although the Jets took that initial meeting by a 6-2 score, don’t expect the Red Wings to roll over in this one. Detroit comes in red hot, relatively speaking, as they’ve rattled off three straight victories including a 5-4 triumph on Thursday in Columbus. Give some credit to new head coach Todd McLellan, who took over from Derek Lalonde just after Christmas.

“Really, their play without the puck is probably the biggest difference,” Jets bench boss Scott Arniel said of what has changed in Motor City. “They still have a real good skill-set, some top-end forwards, some real mobile young defencemen who can go, but you can see it, they’re not giving up odd-man rushes. Obviously, their buy-in without the puck has been big.”

McIntyre and Wiebe report that Alex Lyon will start for the Red Wings, and the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton offers this morning skate report from afar…

Red Wings forward Andrew Copp and coach Todd McLellan spoke with the media prior to the Red Wings-Jets game tonight:

In case anyone missed it, Todd McLellan did say this morning that Jeff Petry will NOT play tonight. Petry is with the team & McLellan added " Once we get back to Detroit he'll get the care he needs and hopefully (its) short term." @DetroitRedWings #LGRW

— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) January 4, 2025

The 16-18-and-4 Detroit Red Wings will battle the NHL-best 27-11-and-2 Winnipeg Jets this evening (7 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet West/97.1 FM), and the Jets hit the ice at Canada Life Centre very early for an optional morning skate:

This might be just a 'me' thing, but…

10:30 am morning skate? Perfect time.

9:30 am morning skate? Inexplicably feels like 7:30 am.

— Mitchell Clinton (@MitchellClinton) January 4, 2025

Haydn Fleury and Dylan Samberg both taking morning skate in yellow non-contact jerseys.

— Sean Reynolds (@snseanreynolds) January 4, 2025

The #NHLJets blue line could soon be very crowded. The injured Haydn Fleury has joined the injured Dylan Samberg in donning a yellow non-contact jersey here at an optional morning skate ahead of tonight’s game vs Detroit. pic.twitter.com/67akCmpUUf

— Mike McIntyre (@mikemcintyrewpg) January 4, 2025

As expected, Connor Hellebuyck the first goaltender off at the optional morning skate. Looks like he gets the call against Detroit.

— Mitchell Clinton (@MitchellClinton) January 4, 2025

NHL.com summarizes tonight’s game thusly:

EliteProspects’ Sean Shapiro wrote a superb profile of Red Wings prospect, Michigan State University goaltender and Team USA back-stop Trey Augustine ahead of tonight’s World Junior Championship semifinal vs. Czechia (7:30 PM on the NHL Network/TSN):

David Lassonde, USA Hockey’s national goalie coach, remembers the first time he watched Trey Augustine play goalie.

“He was playing for Honeybaked (as a 15-year-old), and just the maturity in which he approached everything, whether it was his game-day prep or practice habits,” Lassonde said. “He always dealt positively with the noise that surrounds him.”

And this weekend that noise could be deafening as Augustine and Team USA try to become the first American team, ever, to win back-to-back gold medals at the World Junior Championship.

“There’s never a moment Trey isn’t ready for,” Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale once told me. “That’s what makes him so great.”

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For what it’s worth, The Athletic is doling out mid-season grades for each and every NHL team, and their take on the Red Wings’ turnaround is predictable:

Detroit Red Wings: D

Most expected some kind of step back for the Red Wings, but their first half still fell well short of expectations. Detroit has issues with its roster, but there’s still more talent on the team than its bottom-10 record suggests. We’ll see if new coach Todd McLellan can help the Red Wings get back on track in the new year, even if the playoffs look tough to reach. — Max Bultman

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