Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Red Wings will begin a four-game homestand at Little Caesars Arena on Friday night, facing the New York Rangers in an Original Six matchup. Both teams are celebrating their Centennial seasons this year.

The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., with coverage available on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Extra and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit). After playing the Rangers, who have a 6-6-2 record and 14 points, the Red Wings (9-5-0; 18 points) will host the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon. The Blackhawks are also marking their own Centennial campaign.

The first 7,500 fans attending Friday’s game will receive a Vintage Bobblehead, courtesy of Comerica Bank.

Detroit head coach Todd McLellan addressed the team’s need to perform well after returning from an extended road trip. “Everybody talks about getting your game going again and coming back from a long road trip, but you usually talk about it a lot more when you’re not playing well,” McLellan said. “Then, it becomes an excuse. If you have a great game, nobody even mentions it…We have to get our game going at home again and find it quickly.”

The Red Wings recently completed a five-game road trip out West with three wins and two losses. Their final game was a 1-0 shutout loss against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

Reflecting on the trip, Mason Appleton said: “Vegas is a really good team. They didn’t give us much and we didn’t get much ourselves, but we got a winning road trip. Anytime you have more points than games on the road, that usually makes for a pretty good trip. We liked a lot of it and now, we just have to carry that back on home ice. We’re at home for a while, especially when you’re on the road that long, you set yourself up for a nice homestand if you play well on the road. We’re just going to try to stack some wins here and keep playing our game.”

Appleton also noted improvements in Detroit’s defensive play during their time away from home: “You look at some games, where maybe we got a little bit loose at times, but I thought we defended the right way the whole trip,” he said. “Vegas only gets one. Like I said, they didn’t give us much, but we didn’t give them a ton either. Goaltending has been good. We’ve been limiting off the rush. Definitely cleaning up some things that we’ve worked on the last month or so, and it’s nice to see that all coming together.”

Patrick Kane is expected to return to Detroit’s lineup after missing nine games due to an upper-body injury. In five appearances this season before his absence, Kane recorded two goals and three assists.

On the opposing side, New York is in its first season under head coach Mike Sullivan and recently lost 3-0 to Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden—a result that extended their home winless streak to six games; however, they hold an impressive 6-1-1 record on the road this season.

“Sully and his staff have done a really good job,” McLellan said regarding Sullivan's impact in New York. “You can see them take on some of his tendencies as a head coach. The players seem to be buying into it. They’re the best team on the road in the League so far, and they’ll figure out their home game.”

Adam Fox leads New York with eleven points (three goals and eight assists), followed by captain J.T. Miller with eight points (three goals and five assists), while Artemi Panarin has seven points (two goals and five assists). Goalie Igor Shesterkin has started eleven games this season with four wins, five losses and two overtime losses; he holds a goals-against average of 2.26 along with one shutout.

“They’re a really good hockey club,” McLellan added about Friday's opponent.“They don’t give up anything, really, when you look at it.And when they do,their goaltenders are there bailing them out.It’s a tough team to score against.”