The Detroit Red Wings are set to face the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Tuesday night, aiming for their fifth consecutive win after a recent victory at Little Caesars Arena. The matchup between these two Atlantic Division teams is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., with television coverage on TNT and HBO MAX. Radio coverage will be provided by Ken Kal and Paul Woods on the Red Wings Radio Network.
Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson commented on the team’s demanding schedule: “We have a tough schedule. A lot of back-to-backs, and for this one we have to travel to play a divisional opponent. It’s probably one of the hardest things you can do, so for us to be where we are today with the number of games we’ve been playing and the tight schedule we have is a great team effort by everybody. Boston is a pretty good hockey team, so it’s going to be a hard but also important game.”
The Red Wings (28-15-4; 60 points) have faced the Bruins (25-19-2; 52 points) twice this season, losing in a shootout in Boston on November 29 and winning in Detroit on December 2.
On Monday, before their overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes, Detroit retired Sergei Fedorov’s No. 91 jersey during a ceremony at their home arena in downtown Detroit. Edvinsson reflected on Fedorov’s legacy: “You see how big he was here. He made a good impact on everybody here. I feel like a player like that should actually have a whole week to be appreciated because now, when you actually really start to learn about what he did for this organization, it’s a great honor to play for the Winged Wheel like he did.”
Head coach Todd McLellan spoke about his players’ experience during Fedorov’s jersey retirement: “For the individuals that are sitting there, we talked about this [on Monday morning], the history of the game is really important. I think you’re a better player when you understand history, you know what happened, how things happened and why they happened…To sit there and watch that type of player in Sergei be honored by who we play for now, not just the organization but the fans, is pretty special.”
In Monday’s game against Carolina, James van Riemsdyk, Albert Johansson and Alex DeBrincat helped give Detroit an early lead. DeBrincat now leads the team with 24 goals this season.
McLellan assessed his team’s performance after their fourth straight win: “A good result, but a mixed bag during the game,” he said. “Fairly good start, to get the power-play goal early against a penalty kill that’s real aggressive was a good thing for our hockey club. We forced them into a couple other mistakes, but never really had control of the game. That’s usually how it is when you play against the Hurricanes. They get rolling around in your end, they volume shoot and get it back a lot…But at the end of the night, we found a way to win in overtime which is important. Put the points in the bank and got to move on now.”
Boston enters Tuesday’s contest having won three straight games and five out of their last six matches following Sunday’s shutout victory over Pittsburgh.
McLellan noted changes since their last meeting with Boston: “We haven’t played them for a good month,” he said. “At that point, they were missing a few players and still gave us a really tough night. Now, they have some people back in their lineup. They’ve played very well lately. They’ve been able to score a lot of goals some nights, but also prevent. Seem to be a little more disciplined, not taking as many penalties which takes a little pressure off their penalty kill and gets more players involved.”
David Pastrnak leads Boston with 55 points this season while Jeremy Swayman is expected as starting goaltender.
Looking ahead to Tuesday’s matchup McLellan stated: “I think these are the nights when you can grow as a hockey club, get mentally and physically stronger, and push the limits of what the group can do as a whole,” adding that they are seeking strong results.
The Red Wings are part of the Original Six franchises in professional ice hockey and represent Detroit. Since beginning operations in 1926, they have become recognized as the most successful U.S.-based franchise in National Hockey League history with 11 Stanley Cup championships.
