PREVIEW: Detroit entertains Montreal for Women’s History Celebration on Thursday

DETROIT – With a Women’s History Celebration serving as the backdrop for their first of three consecutive games against Atlantic Division rivals, the Detroit Red Wings will host the Montreal Canadiens at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night.

“It’s going to be great,” Moritz Seider said. “Obviously, we’re in a lot of battles with Montreal in the past couple years here, so it should be exciting. I think we just got to take it day by day. There’s a lot of points on the table in the next couple weeks, so we want to capitalize on our chances. Can’t really trust anyone else but us, so I think it’s a great challenge for us.”

Puck drop for the third and final regular-season clash between Detroit (37-23-8; 82 points) and Montreal (37-20-10; 84 points) is set for 7 p.m. Television broadcast will be simulcast on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and Fox 2, while radio coverage can be heard on the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit). After dropping a 5-1 decision to the Canadiens on Opening Night, the Red Wings shut them out, 4-0, at Bell Centre on Jan. 10. 

“It’s a great stretch for us right now, and it’s just one game at a time,” Sheldon Dries said. “We can’t get ahead of ourselves. The most important thing is banking those two points on the line.”

Detroit kicked off its four-game homestand with an important 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Monday, halting a three-game winless streak and improving to 19-11-3 at Little Caesars Arena this season. Alex DeBrincat (three assists) and Patrick Kane (two goals) combined for five points, while goaltender John Gibson made 25 saves for his 25th win of the campaign.

“I liked our response after the first,” Dries said. “It wasn’t the first that we wanted, but I thought we came out in the second with determination and got pucks and bodies to the net. That needs to be the identity of how we’re going to win these games down the stretch.”

On how a club’s identity can evolve this late in the season, head coach Todd McLellan noted that the Red Wings are being tested under significant pressure.

“Every team in the League right now is stressed,” McLellan said. “And I don’t just mean the worry, but the length of the season, the taxing of players, the playoff races. So, that can affect individuals or teams in different ways, and that’s why we talked about being resilient and dealing with issues. I’d like to think that we can handle that better than maybe we have in the past, but we’re not the only team that will go through all of this.”

Montreal, which currently sits just two points ahead of Detroit for third place in the Atlantic Division, is coming off a 3-2 overtime victory over the visiting Boston Bruins on Tuesday. The game-winner was scored by Cole Caufield, who leads the Canadiens in goals (40) and ranks third in points (68) behind Lane Hutson (69 points on 11 goals and 58 assists) and captain Nick Suzuki (80 points on 24 goals and 56 assists).

Jakub Dobeš, Samuel Montembeault and Jacob Fowler have all spent time in Montreal’s crease this season, with the first-listed netminder appearing in a team-high 33 games for 22-7-4 record.

“They don’t need many chances,” McLellan said of the Canadiens. “They got a 40-goal scorer in their lineup. They’ve got offense from the blue line and from their forwards. You look at their shooting percentage and their ability to finish; it’s exceptional right now. It’s been a real good asset for their hockey club.”