PREVIEW: Red Wings host Blues for Hockeytown Halloween on Saturday afternoon

DETROIT -- Celebrating Hockeytown Halloween, the Detroit Red Wings will try to keep building toward their identity when the St. Louis Blues visit Little Caesars Arena on Saturday afternoon.

“We’re playing as a group,” Andrew Copp said. “We’re playing connected. We’ve added some physicality and I think it shows. I think everyone’s improved in that aspect, maybe just [a small percentage] each guy and that can add up. We’ve done a pretty good job of playing hard-nosed, being physical and winning battles.”

Puck drop between the Red Wings (6-4-3; 15 points) and Blues (6-6-1; 13 points) is set for 1 p.m. ET, with broadcast coverage on Detroit SportsNet and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit). In just 11 days, these two clubs will meet again and conclude their season series at Enterprise Center. 

“We are checking better, especially through the neutral zone,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “I believe we’re breaking pucks out of our end much better or more consistently, therefore we’re spending less time in our zone than we have in the past. That could change (on Saturday). It could change any night, but to this point that’s been a good thing.”

Saturday’s matinee also marks the Red Wings’ final game of October, a month in which the club has already recorded five comeback victories – tied with the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs for the most among all NHL clubs this season.

“Maybe by game 15 or 20, where you really feel in the flow of the entire thing,” Copp said. “It was good to get on that road trip just to see how that feels again. It was a successful one at the end of the day, and then a big win (on Thursday night).”

The latest of those, which Copp was discussing, was a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in which Detroit trailed 1-0 after the first period but scored four unanswered goals. Viktor Arvidsson’s three goals and one assist led the club, while Alex DeBrincat’s two assists also factored into the offensive production against the Blackhawks.

In 13 games, Arvidsson leads all Red Wings skaters in goals (8), power-play goals (4) and shooting percentage (21.6 percent).

“He’s been great around the front of the net,” Copp said of Arvidsson. “Great on the power play. Kind of found those dirty goals. He’s got a calming presence about him, that’s he’s just going to go about his business and be successful. He’s been a great add.”

Carter Mazur pointed to one more factor that set the Red Wings apart from the Blackhawks.

“I would just say how fast we were,” Mazur said. “They were a really fast team, so just how we kept up with their speed and how we took it to them. I felt like we made their D make plays, and they turned the puck over a lot as a result, so we just kept it in there.”

Meanwhile, the Blues defeated the Boston Bruins by a 4-1 final on Thursday, snapping a two-game skid in which they were shut out both times. Dylan Holloway (three goals, eight assists) and Mason McTavish (six goals, four assists), the latter acquired in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks this past offseason, have each reached double-digit point totals.

“It’s not a team that we’ve seen play a lot this year, but (head coach Jim Montgomery) has been there for a while now,” Detroit bench boss Todd McLellan said of St. Louis. “There’ll be some trends and some tendencies. I do know one thing: their goaltenders handle the puck extremely well. It’s like playing against three defensemen, so if you want any type of sustained attack, (Jordan) Binnington and/ or (Joel) Hofer can’t be out there triggering every breakout. So, that’ll be part of the game plan, but there’s other things we still have to analyze and get through. Their special teams are very strong.”