PREVIEW: Both in Eastern Conference’s Wild-Card race, Red Wings set to host Flyers on Saturday

DETROIT -- Bringing some significant momentum with them into the second half of their penultimate back-to-back set of the season, the Detroit Red Wings will take on the Philadelphia Flyers at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday night.

“A very big win for our hockey club,” head coach Todd McLellan said of Detroit’s 5-2 win over the Atlantic Division-leading Buffalo Sabres at Key Bank Center less than 24 hours ago. “Not an easy place to play. A team that was full of confidence going into the game…We had our moments, both good and bad, and weathered the storm. We needed some good goaltending and some timely plays, and got out of there with points.”

Puck drop between the Red Wings (39-25-8; 86 points) and Flyers (35-24-12; 82 points) – two Eastern conference squads set to see plenty of each other down the stretch – is set for 8 p.m., with TV broadcast coverage airing exclusively on ABC and radio coverage on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit. These Eastern Conference squads will meet again on April 2 at Xfinity Mobile Arena before wrapping up their three-game series back at Little Caesars Arena on April 9.

“We’re right back at it,” said Jacob Bernard-Docker, who scored his first goal as a member of the Red Wings on Friday. “Philly’s on a roll too, so they’re going to be a tough test for us. Just try to get off to another hot start. I think that’s going to be the key for us these last 10 games.”

Along with Bernard-Docker’s goal, Detroit was boosted by multi-point nights from Alex DeBrincat (one goal, two assists), Patrick Kane (one goal, one assist) and Moritz Seider (two assists) in Buffalo.

“Battled through,” said Seider, who also appeared in his 400th straight career NHL game on Friday. “I think overall, we can be really happy with the performance and hopefully that can give us a little bit of a boost here for confidence.”

Special teams and capitalizing on their chances, according to McLellan, put the Sabres in their first three-goal deficit since before the NHL’s Olympic break and set the tone for the rest of the night.

“It was early in the game, actually, in our favor anyhow,” McLellan said. “It was drawing the penalties and scoring on the power play. That gave us some confidence and a lead in the first period that we haven’t had in a while. You could feel the energy on the bench build because of it, so I think that was our turning point. I’m not sure what theirs was.”

The Flyers most recently pulled away from the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-1, at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday night.

The Flyers most recently pulled away from the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-1, at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday night.

Owning a 7-2-1 record in its last 10 games, Philadelphia is led offensively by the duo of Travis Konecny (60 points on 25 goals and 35 assists) and Trevor Zegras (57 points on 22 goals and 35 assists). Meanwhile, Owen Tippett (24 goals, 20 assists) and Christian Dvorak (15 goals, 29 assists) have each totaled 44 points so far this season.

Across 44 starts, netminder Dan Vladar is 23-12-7 with a 2.43 goals-against average and .907 save percentage.

“Game at a time,” McLellan said. “I know it sounds like a cliché, but we’ve got to deal with a Philadelphia team right now that still believes they can get in, so they’re going to be real hungry tonight. They’ll be rested and since about Jan. 1, they’ve done a real good job of being on the positive side of high-danger chances for.”