The Red Wings need to take advantage of their three-game homestand this week, considering they won’t be playing in Detroit afterward for an extended period.
Detroit opens the homestand against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night. The Red Wings play their last two games prior to the Olympic break on the road, as well as their first three games after play is resumed. Their first home game following the Olympics is on March 4.
Detroit, which sits one point behind the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division, has taken care of business on its home ice this season. The Red Wings own an 18-8-1 home record — only the Bruins (19-8-1 in Boston) have recorded more home wins among Eastern Conference teams.
The Red Wings won’t have one of their top defensemen available until after the break. Simon Edvinsson, who normally pairs with top defender Moritz Seider, is sidelined by a lower-body injury.
“(Edvinsson) is a significant piece,” coach Todd McLellan said. “But we have others that are going to have to go in and play, and they’ve done that already for a couple of games and done an admirable job. When you lose players, there are all the cliches, of somebody else stepping up and it means everybody has to pull a little harder and do a little bit more, and if you manage the game properly, you can get through it.”
Travis Hamonic, who has appeared in 21 games, likely will get more opportunities with Edvinsson on the mend. The defensive pairings could change on a game-by-game basis until Edvinsson returns.
“We don’t want Simon out of the lineup, but the fact we have to shuffle some things around and guys have to play with other partners and in different situations, that’s not a bad thing for the group,” McLellan said. “They haven’t had a lot of adversity back there (on defense), knock on wood, for injuries, so now we have to deal with it, and it’s not the end of the world.”
The Kings were supposed to play on Monday night, but their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets was postponed because of a storm in the Ohio capital. Los Angeles has won its past two games, squeaking past the New York Rangers 4-3 and St. Louis Blues 5-4.
The latter game was played on Saturday night and was decided by a shootout. Trevor Moore fired in the game-winner during the shootout and also had a goal in regulation. He had missed 11 games due to an upper-body injury.
“It just feels good to be back and playing,” Moore said. “Just grateful for that, and to see one go in in an important moment always feels good. Your adrenaline’s pumping (after) being out for a while. Your body sometimes goes on autopilot, which is nice.”
The Kings have played in a league-high 21 games in overtime or a shootout this season but have prevailed only eight times in those contests. They gave up a goal with 2:10 remaining in regulation against St. Louis, forcing the extra session.
“I thought the third period was our best period,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “They scored one late, but the third period, we had chances. It was nice to see the one go in to get us ahead.”
–Field Level Media
