DETROIT – Todd McLellan will make his debut as head coach and Trent Yawney as assistant coach of the Detroit Red Wings when the Toronto Maple Leafs visit Little Caesars Arena on Friday night.
Puck drop between the Red Wings (13-17-4; 30 points) and Maple Leafs (21-12-2; 44 points) is set for 7 p.m., with broadcast coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit). The Original Six and Atlantic Six rivals last played on Dec. 14, which Detroit won, 4-2.
“Trent Yawney and I aren’t waving a wand and changing forechecks, neutral zones, D-zones and power play,” McLellan said after Friday’s morning skate. “We just don’t have time. But what we’ve asked the players to do is to play harder, faster and a little bit smarter. Those are three simple things that I think we can control without any type of tactics or systematic structure play. And then the last thing is the spirit of the team has to improve. When something like this happens, obviously the spirit of the team is at a low, and we’re going to work hard to build that back up.”