PREVIEW: Red Wings, Flames put respective streaks on the line in Calgary on Wednesday

CALGARY -- Pushing forward on their season-long six-game road trip, the Detroit Red Wings will kick off a midweek back-to-back set when they battle the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday night.

“We’ve got to get our game going quicker,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “This team starts well at home. They’re very competitive, similar to the two teams we just played… We got to be prepared to go right away and make sure we have some legs that can get us to places we need to go, and that’s to a man. It can’t just be five or six guys.”

Wednesday’s 8:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. MT puck drop (broadcast coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and 97.1 The Ticket) marks the first of two matchups between the Red Wings (16-11-3; 35 points) and Flames (12-15-4; 28 points) this season. They’ll meet again at Little Caesars Arena on March 16.

The Red Wings arrive in Stampede City on a five-game point streak and have won two games in a row, most recently blanking the Vancouver Canucks, 4-0, at Rogers Arena on Monday. Netminder John Gibson stopped all 39 shots he faced while James van Riemsdyk, Andrew Copp, Nate Danielson and captain Dylan Larkin all found the back of the net for Detroit, which recorded its first shutout since March 16, 2025.

“It’s been a good road trip so far,” Emmitt Finnie said. “We’ve gotten at least a point in every game, and I felt in our last game we started slow but came along as it went on. I thought that was one of our better games, so we’re looking to carry that into tonight.”

Wednesday’s game will also see Gibson make his third straight start for the Red Wings. In 16 appearances this season, the 32-year-old netminder has a 7-7-1 record, 3.35 goals-against average and .881 save percentage.

“He’s been real good,” McLellan said about Gibson. “Looks very focused and athletic in the net right now. Anything that has got there, he’s been able to make the save and clean up some of the messes around the net.”

Boasting a 7-2-1 record over their last 10 games, the Flames pushed their winning streak to three straight with a 7-4 win against the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Monday. Calgary, which is seventh in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division, also brings the NHL’s eighth-best penalty kill success rate (82.7 percent) into the finale of its current four-game homestand.

“They work as a unit,” McLellan said about the Flames’ PK. “Starts in goal. They’ve been getting some real good goaltending when things break down, and after that they’re strong in the face-off circle. Their reads and ability to react to loose pucks are strong. If you’re not on your toes, you’re going to be breaking out a lot. That leads to frustration for the power play, and something we want to stay away from.”