The Detroit Red Wings are set to begin a two-game road trip in Denver, facing the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on Monday night. The matchup comes after Detroit was shut out 5-0 by Colorado at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.
Detroit head coach Todd McLellan addressed the team’s recent performance. “We haven’t met our expectations over the last few nights,” McLellan said. “But more importantly, some jump, energy and better execution. If we have that, then we give ourselves a chance to have a response. We’ll be looking for that, and looking for it early, in the game.”
Monday’s game is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET/7 p.m. MT and will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit.
Reflecting on playing Colorado twice within three days, McLellan noted: “It makes it a little bit easier for some of the coaches on the staff, because your pre-scout in already done. You can look at what happened last game and makes some adjustments, but this is obviously a big challenge. There’s not a lot of teams that come into this building and win, so we can’t look at the end result. We can’t start there and then work backwards. We have to look at everything we put into the game, then we’ll look up at the end of the night and see where we are.”
Axel Sandin-Pellikka commented on preparing for another meeting with Colorado: “We have a little better look at how they are, but so do they on us,” Sandin-Pellikka said. “It goes both ways, but I know we’re better prepared today. We’re going to go out there and play better than we did last time.”
Detroit finished its three-game homestand with only one point and an average of 1.33 goals per contest during that stretch. This run has moved them back in the standings; as of Monday they trailed Tampa Bay by four points for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Sandin-Pellikka emphasized moving forward before the Olympic break: “We have to go out and play,” he said. “The last three games haven’t been what we wanted, get back to the level we were at before and finish this off before the break. It’s going to be important to get some good feeling going into the break.”
For Colorado, Nathan MacKinnon continues his strong season after recording two goals and an assist against Detroit on Saturday; he leads the NHL with 40 goals this season.
Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews is expected to return from injury after missing time since January 3 due to an upper-body issue.
McLellan spoke about Toews’ impact: “They’re going to get better tonight,” he said about Colorado’s lineup changes.”Toews is going to play, and they’re a very mobile group on the back end. They transition real quick, so if your forecheck game is going to be at all effective, your puck placement better be good and you better have people around it quickly because if you don’t, they’re coming right back at you and now you got to play the whole shift in your end. That’s not conducive to creating any type of offensive confidence.”
The Red Wings were established in 1926 as one of hockey’s Original Six franchises representing Detroit, Michigan official website. The team has won 11 Stanley Cup championships—more than any other U.S.-based franchise—and hosts home games in downtown Detroit official website.
