PREVIEW: Red Wings continue three-game road swing, finish off season series with Hurricanes on Saturday

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Seeking their second straight win coming out of the NHL’s Olympic break, the Detroit Red Wings will take on the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Saturday night.

“We have 23 more games now,” Simon Edvinsson said. “It’s all about speed, management and playing the right way. We know some teams are out of it and we are very much in it. That’s going to be hard, because players come from the back. It’s tough. You need to keep your position on top and just to play with game management, pace and grit --that’s going to take us a long way. It’s been all about the details.”  

Detroit (34-19-6; 74 points) and Carolina (37-15-6; 80 points), will wrap up their three-game regular-season series with a 7 p.m. puck drop, which will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit). The pair of Eastern Conference foes have split their first two matchups – the Hurricanes took a 5-2 decision at Lenovo Center on Dec. 27 before the Red Wings outlasted them for a 4-3 overtime victory at Little Caesars Arena on Jan. 12.

On Thursday, two goals from captain Dylan Larkin and 29 saves from goalie John Gibson lifted Detroit to a 2-1 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. It was the Red Wings’ ninth OT victory of the campaign, tying the Montreal Canadiens, San Jose Sharks and Minnesota Wild for the most such wins.

“The win was really, really important,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “We were drowning in the first period; I think that was pretty obvious. The fact we were able to get back above water and take some air in was important as well. I thought as the game wore on, we started to skate a little bit better. Our energy stores looked like they were in pretty good position, but the points themselves were huge. Just to start that way in that building and have an Atlantic Division team as the opponent. So far so good, but a long way to go.”

Ahead of Saturday’s morning skate, Detroit announced it recalled Dominik Shine from the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Shine has played in 38 games with the Griffins this season, recording 37 points (21 goals, 16 assists).

“It wasn’t precautionary and yes, we liked the way he was playing in Grand Rapids,” McLellan said of the Griffins’ 32-year-old captain. “He’s a big part of that team. He’s been able to drag a lot of players into the game there. He’s been a very good leader. He’s produced offensively and, quite frankly, what he did last year when he came up here was impressive as well. In my mind, as a coach, we’re not bringing somebody up to look at or try out. We have a good feel for what he can bring. We believe he can repeat what he’s done in the past and become a factor in the game.”

For Shine, knowing McLellan has that level of confidence in him goes a long way.

“It means a lot, especially coming from him,” Shine said. “I just try to do the best I can wherever I am. Whether that’s GR or here, just try to impact the game in a positive way and bring some energy.”

McLellan also announced that goalie Cam Talbot will get the nod in Carolina. It’ll be the 38-year-old’s first start since Jan. 22. This season, Talbot is 11-7-4 with a 2.99 goals-against average and .892 save percentage across 24 games.

“He’s been around a long time,” McLellan said of Talbot. “He’s worked real hard. He knows who he is. He’s fit as a fiddle. He’s taken care of himself. Michael Leighton’s worked real hard with him in the extra time on the ice and, quite frankly, his numbers against this group have been fairly impressive.”

As for the Hurricanes, they’re riding an 11-game point streak and four-game winning streak following a 5-4 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Lenovo Center on Thursday.

Sebastian Aho, who has four goals in his last five games, has a team-leading 58 points with Andrei Svechnikov (51 points) and Seth Jarvis (45 points) right behind him. In net, Frederik Andersen is 7-10-5 with a 3.26 GAA and .871 SV% across 22 starts.

“They were up 3-0 against Tampa the other night, and you got to weather that and perform well early in the game and play into it, so we’ll be aware of that,” McLellan said of the Hurricanes. “They’re a quick team, volume shooting. They don’t give up much at the other end. They have a real good belief system. They have an identity and play to it all the time.”