Kris Draper Assistant General Manager Director of Amateur Scouting | Detroit Red Wings Website
Kris Draper Assistant General Manager Director of Amateur Scouting | Detroit Red Wings Website
The Detroit Red Wings are set to face the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night, concluding a back-to-back series in California. The game will start at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network.
Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde emphasized the need for a strong start, saying, “Everyone’s going to have moments in their schedule like this. We’re going to have to turn it around, but we need a really good road start similar to what we had [on Friday] and just to sustain it.”
Detroit comes into the match after a 6-4 loss against the Anaheim Ducks, where they initially led by two goals in the second period. Lalonde noted that his team relaxed too much during the game, allowing Anaheim to recover. “It’s hard to win in this league,” he stated. “It’s extremely hard to build a two-goal lead... [On Friday], we couldn’t stop the momentum like we did [on Wednesday].”
Goalie Alex Lyon made his first start since October 30 after recovering from an injury but faced challenges during the game with 23 saves. Lalonde commented on Lyon's performance: “I’d have to look back because obviously [Lyon] had some spectacular saves and a couple seeing-eye pucks that got through.”
Marco Kasper stood out by scoring his first NHL goal on a power play and recording an assist for his first multi-point game. Captain Dylan Larkin expressed mixed feelings about Kasper's achievement amidst the team's loss: “I’m happy for Marco... We needed to win that hockey game, and we didn’t.”
The Los Angeles Kings are coming off a 4-2 defeat against the Colorado Avalanche and share second place in their division with Calgary Flames. Anze Kopitar leads Los Angeles with 20 points this season, while Adrian Kempe and Alex Laferriere have also been key contributors.
Kings’ goalies Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich have combined efforts this season with an average of 2.68 goals-against per game.
Reflecting on Friday's result, Larkin said, “The good news out of all of this is we get a chance [on Saturday] to bounce back.”
Alerts Sign-up