Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Red Wings are set to conclude their California road trip with a game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Sunday night. The matchup, scheduled for 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network.

The Red Wings currently hold an 8-4-0 record with 16 points, while the Sharks stand at 4-6-2 with 10 points. Detroit is coming off a 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, a result that head coach Todd McLellan attributed to self-inflicted mistakes.

“We fell behind in a way that we don’t want to,” McLellan said. “We’re not always going to be perfect, but the short-handed goal – the one the night before is a bad bounce on Finnie – but the one in Anaheim was just very poorly played positionally. Even after that, a few times in the first period, there were times when we talked about sorting things out coming back into our end and making sure we pick up the proper people. Well, we couldn’t even do that because of our puck management.”

Defenseman Albert Johansson emphasized focusing on team strengths as they prepare for San Jose. “We need to stay ahead of the other team,” Johansson said. “We got to try to get the puck deep in their zone and get our forecheck going. When we get our forecheck going and win some puck battles down there, we’re a good team.”

McLellan previously served as head coach of the Sharks from 2008 to 2015, leading them to six consecutive Stanley Cup Playoff appearances and holding franchise records for games coached (540), wins (311), points (688), and postseason contests coached (62). Reflecting on his time in San Jose, McLellan stated: “I was very fortunate, as a young coach, to be leaving the Wings and coming here. Back then, there were a lot of similarities between the two organizations. [The Red Wings] had just won a cup. We were just trying to win one in San Jose. We had great players and an unreal support system going on within the organization, so a lot of parallels between the two. As a young coach, you don’t often get a team that’s pushing to win. You often get a team that’s rebuilding or retooling, and I was very fortunate that way.”

San Jose has found recent success by winning three of its last four games, including an overtime victory against Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

Macklin Celebrini leads San Jose with 18 points—seven goals and eleven assists—and is currently riding a seven-game point streak after scoring against Colorado Avalanche. At age nineteen and selected first overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Celebrini has become central to San Jose’s offense.

“He’s fast,” Johansson said about Celebrini. “He has good skill, a good shot and good vision. Overall, he’s a good player and can skate. We got to keep an extra eye on him tonight.”

Other key contributors for San Jose include Eklund with eleven points (five goals and six assists) and Will Smith with ten points (four goals and six assists). Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic holds a record of two wins, two losses, one overtime loss this season along with averages of 3.60 goals allowed per game and .887 save percentage.

“They’re a very dangerous team,” McLellan said regarding his former club. “Their two lines can really snap the puck around and have good offensive instincts, so we’ll have our hands full.”