PREVIEW: Back at Little Caesars Arena, Red Wings host Islanders on Tuesday 

DETROIT -- Taking the ice in front of Hockeytown faithful for the first time in two weeks, the Detroit Red Wings will open a midweek back-to-back set when they host the New York Islanders at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday night.

“Foot on the gas,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “It was a good trip. With a trip like that, you can build confidence. Anytime you come home from the West, it’s a challenging first game. For whatever reason, anytime I’ve done it in my career, it’s been difficult. You’re gone for a long time, then you’re home with a million things to do and still got to focus on playing a game. The way we’ve been playing and winning in different ways, there’s something to build off that.”

Puck drop between Detroit (18-12-3; 39 points) and New York (19-11-3; 41 points) is set for 7 p.m. Television broadcast will be simulcast on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and Fox 2 in Detroit, while radio coverage can be heard on the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit).

The Red Wings are also trying to avoid a regular-season series sweep against the Islanders, as they lost, 7-2, at UBS Arena on Oct. 23 and were blanked, 5-0, at Little Caesars Arena on Nov. 20.

“The way the Islanders games have rolled out, they’ve all been almost exactly a month apart,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “We took it on the chin in New York and didn’t play well. We came back here, took it on the chin and didn’t play well. Now, we get our last chance against them. We’ve all talked about the importance of season series and trying to win those, especially in the East. We obviously can’t do that, but we’d like to take some points if we could.”

Speaking of picking up points, the Red Wings collected nine of a possible 12 on their recent six-game road trip, which ended with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Saturday. In Chicago, goalie John Gibson turned aside all 26 shots he faced while Alex DeBrincat (two goals, one assist) recorded his 11th multi-point game and fourth three-point performance of the season.

Larkin believes finding different ways to win, like Detroit did on its trek, is a sign of a good team.

“It really is,” Larkin said. “The key word there is winning. You can play good and not win, but you have to win. You have to accumulate points in this League. On that road trip, we did that. It’s good for team confidence and morale. Now, it’s about looking forward and continuing to try to win.”

Holding second place in the Metropolitan Division, the Islanders won their third straight game with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at UBS Arena on Saturday.

Rookie Matthew Schaefer scored a power-play goal on Saturday, increasing his overall total to nine which is tied for the third-most by all NHL blueliners this season. He ranks third on New York in points (23), behind Mathew Barzal’s 25 (nine goals, 16 assists) and Bo Horvat’s 31 (19 goals, 12 assists).

“Not all of the 17, 18-year-old first-rounders or top-five picks are doing what Schaefer is doing,” McLellan said. “He’s that good. He’s a unicorn.”

Between the pipes, netminder Ilya Sorokin has a 12-8-2 record with a 2.50 goals-against average and .912 save percentage to go along with three shutouts in 22 starts.

“They’re a really good hockey team,” Larkin said about the Islanders. “They’re dangerous, don’t give up much and play the right way. To beat them, it’s got to be a low-scoring game and two teams that have to play tight defense.”