PREVIEW: Red Wings celebrate Kids Day with Saturday matinee against Penguins

DETROIT – Stepping onto the ice at Little Caesars Arena for the first time in the 2026 calendar year, the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Red Wings will host the Pittsburgh Penguins for Kids Day on Saturday afternoon.

Detroit (24-14-4; 52 points) and Pittsburgh (18-12-9; 45 points) will drop the puck at Noon, with TV broadcast coverage airing exclusively on ABC and radio coverage on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit. Later in the night, also at Little Caesars Arena, the Boston Fleet and Vancouver Goldeneyes will meet as part of this year’s PWHL Takeover Tour.

Saturday’s matinee marks the second half of a home-and-home set between the two Eastern Conference squads, with the Red Wings falling in overtime to the Penguins, 4-3, at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday. Detroit managed to erase a two-goal first-period deficit on goals by James van Riemsdyk and Andrew Copp, and would force the extra session behind Alex DeBrincat’s goal with 2:58 left in regulation.

Although head coach Todd McLellan expressed satisfaction with the point gained, he said the Red Wings must tighten up their overall game so they aren’t forced to play catch-up.

“The more we talk about resiliency, there’s a reason why we’re talking about it – we’re not in a good spot,” McLellan pointed out. “[Thursday’s] start wasn’t what we needed, by any means. Whether it was the power play, penalty kill right after or the turnover in the neutral zone, all that happened in the first five minutes. Guys didn’t even have a sweat on yet. So, the fact that we came back and stuck with it is a real good sign, but there’s factors that lead to that resiliency that we must address.”

As Detroit prepares for its second of three regular-season meetings against Pittsburgh within the week, McLellan detailed some of the specific improvements he hopes to see from his club.

“[The Penguins are a] really good team around the net,” McLellan said. “They shoot for sticks. There’s a lot of loose stuff that’s laying around. You could see that on their third goal [on Thursday]. I thought we did an okay job in that area, but we’ve got to get better. We gave up one on the penalty kill. We scored two goals on the power play, you’ve got to be able to take it, but there’s room for improvement there too.”

The Red Wings are also aiming to keep Sidney Crosby in check after the Penguins’ 38-year-old captain scored twice within the game’s first six minutes and assisted on Kris Letang’s overtime game-winner three days ago. This season, Crosby has tallied a team-leading 43 points (23 goals, 20 assists).

“He is who he is for a reason,” McLellan said about Crosby, who is also riding a five-game point streak with three goals and four assists over that span. “He’s so good on his backhand. He’s just an incredible player.”