PREVIEW: Red Wings host Jets for New Year’s Eve Game, presented by Planet Fitness, on Wednesday

DETROIT -- Dropping the puck for the final time in the 2025 calendar year, the Detroit Red Wings will kick off a midweek back-to-back set when they battle the Winnipeg Jets at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night.

The first of two regular-season meetings between the Red Wings (23-14-3; 49 points) and Jets (15-18-4; 34 points) is set to commence at 6:30 p.m., with broadcast coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit).

“The fans have been great all year, but you just feel a little bit more jam and energy in the building on those holiday games,” Mason Appleton said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Originally selected by the Jets in the sixth round (No. 168 overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Appleton spent nearly all his first seven NHL seasons (2018-25) with Winnipeg -- aside from a 49-game stint with the Seattle Kraken in 2021-22 -- before signing a two-year free-agent contract with Detroit this offseason.

“It’s cliché to say [Wednesday] is just a game,” Appleton said. “I’m playing a lot of my best buddies over there. I was there for a long time, but it’ll be fun. It’ll be one you get up for and really compete. It’s always a little weird playing your old team, but looking forward to the challenge. We got a real good thing going here, so going to try to keep that rolling, get two points and get off to Pittsburgh.”

As for Appleton’s current squad, the Red Wings are coming off a 3-2 overtime victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. Their three goals came courtesy of Moritz Seider, Appleton and Simon Edvinsson.

“Shifts and moments throughout that game didn’t go our way, and maybe we weren’t as sharp as we wanted to be at times, but we just found a way,” Jacob Bernard-Docker said. “I think we just stuck with it and, obviously, the guys who have been playing for us in overtime have done an unreal job all season.”

After winning their first-ever Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history in 2024-25, the Jets have struggled out of the gate this season. Ahead of Wednesday’s slate, Winnipeg was eighth in the Western Conference’s Central Division, had the fewest points recorded in the NHL and was on a six-game winless streak.

Co-leading the Jets on offense, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor boast identical 18-goal and 27-assist stat lines. Gabriel Vilardi has the second-most goals (16) and points (33), while Josh Morrissey ranks third in both assists (24) and points (30).

Manning the crease for the Jets, Connor Hellebuyck has gone winless in his last six starts and overall, is 9-9-3 with a 2.54 goals-against average and .908 save percentage in 21 games. The native of Commerce, Mich., had been sidelined from Nov. 15 – Dec. 15 after undergoing knee surgery on Nov. 22.

“Any team on any given day in this League can win, and we know that,” Bernard-Docker said. “Winnipeg is a big, strong team. We’re going to have to be pretty good around our net. They have some big forwards who like to play a power game. Obviously, they’ve got a great goalie. We’re going to have to be sharp. Even though they’re maybe not doing as well as they’d like to be, it’s any team’s game on any given night.”

Wednesday’s game also marks the first time that Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) with the Jets, will face off as NHL opponents. The pair of forwards played nearly 15 full seasons (2007-23) together with the Chicago Blackhawks, helping the franchise win three Stanley Cup championships (2010, 2013, 2015).

“It’ll be fun to play him for the first time ever in the NHL,” Kane said about Toews. “Obviously, we’ve played against each other in international competition, but this will be totally different.”