Red Wings-Flyers game-day updates

Of Red Wings-Flyers-related note ahead of tonight’s game between the two teams (7 PM EST start on TNT/97.1 FM):

  1. DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted an article previewing tonight’s game:

“A unique situation in that we just played them,” Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said. “A really good team. I like the depth of their lines…They have an ideal fourth line, so this will be a challenge for us.”

Detroit will try to meet that challenge head-on as it continues its three-game homestand, which began with a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Activated from injured reserve after Wednesday’s morning skate, goalie Alex Lyon will start against the Flyers. Lyon hasn’t played since Nov. 25 because of a lower-body injury.

“It always stinks [missing time],” Lyon said. “Obviously, being healthy is tied to your livelihood so it’s an important factor. It’s important staying healthy, but at the same time, things happen. Really happy to be going now. Obviously, I’ve been out on the ice here the last few days and feeling pretty good.”

In nine games this season, Lyon has posted a 4-4-0 record, 2.74 goals-against average, .911 save percentage and one shutout.

“When you have an injury and a setback later, there’s nothing worse,” Lyon said. “You just want to nip it in the bud, make sure everything is good. Obviously, mentally, you don’t want to just feel it out. I want to try to come in, hit the ground running and pick up where I left off. That’s where my focus is right now, just being the best goalie version of myself that I can be for this team.”

2. The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton spoke with Alex DeBrincat regarding tonight’s game:

Continue reading Red Wings-Flyers game-day updates

Red Wings-Flyers preview and morning skate Tweets: Lyon starts, Kasper returns, Berggren sits

The 12-14-and-4 Red Wings host the 14-13-and-4 Philadelphia Flyers tonight (7 PM EST on TNT/97.1 FM) at Little Caesars Arena, with the Wings hoping to “gain some traction” after winning Saturday night against the Maple Leafs.

The Flyers have lost 5 of their last 7 games, last week’s 4-1 victory over Detroit excluded, and they lost their last game 4-1 to Minnesota on Saturday night.

Both the Flyers and Red Wings are preparing to embark upon 4-games-in-6-nights stretches (Detroit plays Philadelphia tonight, Montreal on Friday and Saturday, and St. Louis on Monday), and MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a quick preview of tonight’s game…

Continue reading Red Wings-Flyers preview and morning skate Tweets: Lyon starts, Kasper returns, Berggren sits

Red Wings’ players take part in a ‘Hometown Holiday Assist’

The Red Wings’ players took part in a “Hometown Holiday Assist” last night, going Christmas shopping with local Detroit kids as part of a partnership with the Detroit Police Athletic League.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted a write-up of the event:

Red Wings assistant coach Jay Varady and 13 players — captain Dylan Larkin, Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane, Jeff Petry, Joe Veleno, Tyler Motte, Christian Fischer, Albert Johansson, Simon Edvinsson, Justin Holl, Jonatan Berggren and goalie Alex Lyon — attended this year’s event. Tigers alumni Lance Parish and Dan Petry, as well as Red Wings/Tigers Broadcast Reporter Daniella Bruce, were also on hand to help spread holiday cheer.

“We care so much for this community, and we want to give back in every way we can,” said Ryan Gustafson, President and Chief Operating Officer of Ilitch Sports + Entertainment (IS+E). “Around the holidays in particular, it’s really special for us to have an opportunity to bring kids out, show them a great time and just bring joy and smiles to their faces.”

Thanks to the Red Wings, Tigers and Meijer, each child received $250 to use at the store, enjoyed a Little Caesars pizza party and took home a holiday T-shirt.

Larkin, a Waterford, Mich., native, was proud to participate in the 11th annual Hometown Holiday Assist alongside several of his Red Wings teammates.

“Christmas can be a great time with family, but it can also be a little bit difficult,” Larkin said. “So just to see the [kids’] smiles, then flying up and down the aisles, picking out Legos or whatever they wanted, made their day and mine.”

Continued; WDIV posted a video from the event as well:

HSJ in the morning: regarding the Wings’ three goaltenders

The Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses the Red Wings’ goaltending situation this morning, as Alex Lyon returns from a lower-body injury tonight vs. Philadelphia (7 PM EST start on TNT/97.1 FM), Ville Husso’s earned his first win of the season, and Cam Talbot is slated to return from his lower-body injury on Friday:

“We’ve been able to turn to an experienced goalie that we believe in all year,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Over two years, good on our management team, thinking outside the box with roster management and being able to carry three goalies. It salvaged our season and got us on the brink of the playoffs last year, and it’s kept us in the battle this year. We’ve had four goalies win games for us this year and we’re not even at Christmas.”

Husso is coming off his first NHL win in more than a year, helping the Wings defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs Dec. 14. The Wings called him up Nov. 27 on an emergency basis, so when Talbot is also healthy, they will have to decide whether to carry three or send Husso back to Grand Rapids Griffins.

He knows that can happen, but “I just go day by day,” Husso said. “I don’t think there is any other way. Do my job and I don’t think about that other stuff. It’s been nice to be home and hopefully I’ll get to spend Christmas with the family. That will be good.”

Lalonde deferred speculation, saying, “let’s get to three healthy goalies first,” and complemented Husso on his professionalism.

“Ville is just a genuinely really good person, very well liked in the room,” Lalonde said. “He’s a guy you root for. He’s worked hard. A lot of the adversity has come through injury, he’s had some lower body injuries he’s dealt with. He keeps working at it.”

St. James continues, and she posted a video of a her Tuesday conversation with Lyon, Husso and coach Lalonde after Tuesday’s practice as well:

Wings’ goaltending depth a plus ‘four’ sure

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff recounts the ten times that the Red Wings have had 4 or more goaltenders earn NHL wins in the same season this morning, all while discussing the Red Wings’ called-upon goaltending depth this season:

Both Sebastian Cossa (Monday, 6-5 shootout win at Buffalo) and Ville Husso (4-2 win Saturday over Toronto) were posting their first victories of the NHL season last week. For Husso, it was his first triumph in more than a year. In Cossa’s case, the win came in his NHL debut in relief of Hossa.

Combined with earlier wins this season by both Talbot and Lyon, that makes four different goalies putting up a W for the team already this season.

“Someone gave me a stat, we’re one of the first teams to have four goalie wins (from four different goalies) in the first certain amount of games of the year, which is a good sign,” Lalonde said.

He’s likely referencing the 1993-94 season. That campaign saw Detroit gather up a club-record wins from five different netminders – Peter Ing, Vincent Riendeau, Chris Osgood, Tim Cheveldae and Bob Essensa.

Continued; I have a Cheveldae Winnipeg Jets jersey, if you want to know how annoyed I was about the Cheveldae + Dallas Drake for Bob Essensa trade.

Morning Khan: Kasper key to reviving Red Wings’ power play

MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the Red Wings’ recent power play struggles ahead of tonight’s game vs. Philadelphia (7 PM EST start on TNT/97.1 FM):

The Red Wings’ power play has gone a season-high four games without converting (0 for 8) and is just 1 for 14 in the past six games. That’s far from dreadful but ineffective enough to warrant scrutiny.

“The positive is we had some really good looks (in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Toronto),” [Red Wings coach Derek] Lalonde said. “We went through a stretch for 3-4 games, when I made the comment of stale, we weren’t getting looks, we weren’t getting entries. The other night (Saturday), we lost the special teams battle 1-0 but we had the looks, we out-chanced them 5-, 6-1, it just didn’t go in for us. If we can continue to get those looks it’ll come around.”

The most notable change heading into tonight’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m., TNT) sees [Marco] Kasper joining the unit with Dylan Larkin, J.T. Compher, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider.

“Marco does well in that spot,” Lalonde said. “It know it sounds simple but he does what we ask of him there. He retrieves pucks, he plays it quickly to get movement, he plays through the bumper well. He has scored in that spot. He gets into the scoring area when we go downhill with four guys. He gives us a little energy there.

“I still think we’re kind of in a solution searching mode with our power play. We have a good problem in that we think we have eight to 10 to 12 quality power play guys. We’re trying to figure out some personnel and he’s the one getting an opportunity in that spot.”

Continued (paywall)

The ‘Wily Veteran’ Trey Augustine

NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale spoke with Red Wings prospect and USA World Junior Championship goaltender Trey Augustine about his status as a wily veteran on this year’s U.S. WJC team:

“I just feel old now,” Augustine said with a grin. “I kind of felt young at the start, like I was a little above my level, but now I just feel comfortable, feel like I’m one of the old guys on the team.”

And that’s good news for the U.S. National Junior Team because having a savvy veteran in net at the most prestigious hockey tournament for under-20 players is a huge bonus.

Augustine (6-foot-1, 193 pounds), chosen by the Detroit Red Wings in the second round (No. 41) of the 2023 NHL Draft, might be the best at his position among the 10 countries participating in the tournament in Ottawa from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5. He’s who national junior team general manager John Vanbiesbrouck calls a unique player.

“We’ve only had a couple guys get this much experience when it comes to World Under-18 Championship, World Juniors, and when you have that level of experience, it means a lot,” said Vanbiesbrouck, a retired goalie and 2007 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee. “He’s already a mature kid, but I see more maturity in him. I see he’s very comfortable, but as a player, he’s elite. He’s got the mentality for goaltending, for the position, to move on after negative things and that’s hard qualities to teach young guys. He’s ready to play, starts on time … the sky’s the limit.”

Jack Campbell (2010-12) and Alan Perry (1984-86) are the only other United States goalies to see action in three straight World Junior events. Augustine is 8-1-0 with a 2.20 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in 10 tournament games.

“I always say I’m a competitive, athletic goalie,” Augustine said. “I just kind of use my skating to kind of put myself in position to make saves. That pretty much describes my game.”

Continued; I cringed a bit writing “wily veteran” about a 19-year-old, but here we are.