PREVIEW: Red Wings host Kraken Tuesday, eyeing sixth straight win

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings have burst out of the gate to begin the 2023-24 season.

Entering Tuesday’s clash against the Seattle Kraken (1-4-1; 3 points) at Little Caesars Arena, the Red Wings (5-1-0; 10 points) are off to their best start to a season since the 2011-12 campaign. Through its first six games, Detroit paces the NHL with 30 goals, owns the second-best power-play conversion rate (39.1 percent) and has the league’s first and second-most point scorers in Alex DeBrincat (8-4—12) and captain Dylan Larkin (3-8—11), respectively.

After pulling away from the Calgary Flames, 6-2, on Sunday for a fifth straight win, head coach Derek Lalonde said his club will ride this momentum as long as possible.

“We’re averaging almost five (goals) a game and our power play going into (Sunday) was 50 percent,” Lalonde said. “Of course, that’s not sustainable for anyone but you ride these streaks when you have them. Keep playing the right way and try to keep it as long as you can.”

A win on Tuesday would give the Red Wings a 6-1-0 record for the first time since the 2005-06 season. Detroit is also looking to earn a six-game winning streak for the first time since 2018-19.

TV broadcast coverage of Tuesday’s unconventional 8:15 p.m. puck drop will be carried on Bally Sports Detroit. Longtime Grand Rapids Griffins announcer Bob Kaser will fill in for Ken Kal (illness), joining Paul Woods and Daniella Bruce on the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit).

Players throughout Detroit’s lineup are chipping in offensively early this season, but chief among them has been DeBrincat, who Monday was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week for the week ending Sunday, Oct. 22.

After recording an assist in Detroit’s 4-0 road win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 16, DeBrincat notched a goal and two assists in last Wednesday’s 6-3 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 25-year-old forward capped his impressive week with a hat trick and an assist against the Flames.

“His hockey sense is off the charts and everyone knows he can score,” Larkin said about DeBrincat, who is just the third player in league history with multiple goals in each of his first three home games with a franchise. “But how he finds space and pockets, it honestly took a little bit to get used to. I haven’t played with a player who is looking in spots not many can find.”

The Kraken will open a four-game road trip in Detroit on Tuesday after falling to the New York Rangers, 4-1, on Saturday. Vince Dunn leads the club in assists (four) and points (five) while Jaden Schwartz and Jared McCann have scored two goals apiece. In net for Seattle, Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord have combined for a 2.72 goals-against average and .907 save percentage.