Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Red Wings are preparing to face the St. Louis Blues at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday night, aiming to extend their home-ice winning streak to five games. The matchup is the first in a home-and-home series between the two teams, with Detroit currently holding a 5-3-0 record and 10 points, while St. Louis stands at 3-3-1 with 7 points.

Jacob Bernard-Docker emphasized the importance of maintaining momentum early in the season. “Getting off to a good start this season is important to us,” Bernard-Docker said. “Just trying to keep that rolling…There’s a lot of good teams in this League and there aren’t any gimmes. It’s about sticking to our process and when things go bad, just learn from it.”

The Red Wings recently lost back-to-back road games against the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders. Alex DeBrincat noted that having Friday off was helpful for the team’s mindset following those losses. “It’s nice to get away from the rink and put [Thursday’s game] in the rearview mirror, and show up today ready to go,” DeBrincat said. “We know we have better. We know we have to be better. I think today, we’ll come out strong.”

Bernard-Docker also addressed areas where Detroit needs improvement as they progress through the season: “We just got to clean up some of our rush play,” he said. “Obviously, giving up a few too many chances on that type of stuff. Not our best games, but sometimes it’s good to learn like that early in the season then be able to correct it and move on. Hopefully, we can get back on track tonight.”

Patrick Kane remains sidelined with an upper-body injury and did not participate in Saturday morning's skate; no update was provided regarding his return.

The Blues enter Saturday's contest after a recent loss against Utah Mammoth. Their leading scorers include Jake Neighbors (four goals, one assist), Pavel Buchnevich (one goal, four assists), and Jordan Kyrou (one goal, four assists). Goaltenders Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer have posted a combined goals-against average of 4.45 and a save percentage of .837 so far this season.

Red Wings coach McLellan commented on St. Louis’ performance: “I think they’re going through what we are a little bit, where it’s one real good night then kind of an average night,” McLellan said about the Blues. “Kind of trying to find their footing consistently, but they can make you pay. Their top two lines have a lot of potential scoring on it. Their D can skate and get up in the rush. I’ve known Monty for a long time, so he’s going to have them organized. They’re not going to beat themselves. You’re going to have to play a pretty good, calculated game and take advantage of the mistakes they do make because they’re not just going to give it to you.”

The game will begin at 7 p.m., available for viewing on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit or listening via 97.1 The Ticket.