Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Red Wings will begin the home portion of their 2024-25 preseason schedule on Friday night, hosting the Chicago Blackhawks at Little Caesars Arena. The game is set to start at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on DetroitRedWings.com and the Red Wings Mobile App. Radio coverage will be available on WWJ Newsradio 950 in Detroit.

This matchup marks the second time in three nights that the Red Wings face off against the Blackhawks. On Wednesday, Detroit secured a 4-2 victory at United Center in the exhibition opener for both Original Six clubs. Tyler Motte, Jeff Petry, Lucas Raymond, and Olli Maatta scored for Detroit, which overcame a one-goal deficit in the second period with three unanswered goals.

Head coach Derek Lalonde expressed satisfaction with his team's performance on Wednesday. "We’re out here diving and blocking shots in the third period to win a game," Lalonde said. "I appreciated that from the group. Still some things we got to clean up. Naturally, this time of year, we gave up some easy offense and odd-mans. Young guys played very well. Obviously we won the special teams battle at the end of the night. A lot of positives, but a work in progress."

Lalonde noted that predicting Chicago’s lineup for Thursday is challenging due to the nature of preseason scheduling. "We travelled a pretty good roster [on Wednesday]," Lalonde said. "I just think people get in different points of their situation, where you’re kind of forced to split teams up. Who knows where people are in their process? I foresee us fielding some pretty deep teams throughout the entire camp, probably mostly a credit to our added depth."

Andrew Copp commented on the consistency seen so far with team lines during Training Camp. "Every time you come into Training Camp, coaches have a good idea of what they want to do," Copp said. "It’s always a time for some internal competition and see where things shake out. There’s definitely some of that, and how things end up fitting together will obviously be something that the coaches spend a lot of time on."

Copp is coming off a 2023-24 season where he recorded 33 points (13 goals, 20 assists) in 79 games. He emphasized that preseason games help him prepare for regular-season play by getting into rhythm through puck battles and other game routines.

"Just getting in puck battles not against your buddy a little bit," Copp said. "Just the flow of the game, the TV timeouts, warmups, get your routine going. There’s a lot of that. Nothing to take for granted -- you’re getting a chance to play in an NHL preseason game."