Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Red Wings are set to face the New York Rangers at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday for Hockey Fights Cancer Night, presented by Comerica. The game comes after the Red Wings' recent 3-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The matchup between Detroit (6-6-1; 13 points) and New York (8-3-1; 17 points) will begin at 7 p.m., with coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network.

In support of cancer research, fans who purchased a "Love Your Melon" ticket package will receive a custom beanie, with each ticket sale contributing to Love Your Melon's initiative to provide hats to children battling cancer in America.

Red Wings Captain Dylan Larkin scored against Toronto, marking his team's only goal. Reflecting on the game, Larkin noted that "low-event hockey was the best way to describe how the night at Scotiabank Arena transpired."

Detroit's special teams had mixed results on Friday, succeeding once in three power-play opportunities but failing both penalty kills. Head coach Derek Lalonde cited execution as a key area needing improvement. “We had some entries, some zone time and an opportunity to get pucks to the net,” he said. “We just didn’t execute.”

Ville Husso is expected to start as goalie against New York following Cam Talbot's performance against Toronto. Husso recently played three games with the Grand Rapids Griffins before returning to Detroit.

The Rangers have lost two of their last four games and were defeated by Buffalo Sabres 6-1 on Thursday. Artemi Panarin leads New York in scoring this season, while Alexis Lafreniere and Mika Zibanejad follow closely behind.

Goaltender Igor Shesterkin was replaced during Thursday’s game after conceding five goals on 12 shots. Jonathan Quick stepped in, saving nine out of ten shots.

Saturday's game offers Detroit a chance to avoid being swept by New York this season after previous losses in October. Coach Lalonde remains optimistic about his team's ability to perform well despite back-to-back games: “But put [Friday’s game] behind us... We’ve done a good job as a group performing in back-to-backs.”