PREVIEW: Red Wings kick off 2026 with an Eastern Conference matchup in Pittsburgh on Thursday

PITTSBURGH -- Starting off the 2026 calendar year with the second half of a midweek back-to-back set, the Detroit Red Wings will play the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night.

Detroit (24-14-3; 51 points) and Pittsburgh (17-12-9; 43 points) are set for a 7 p.m. puck drop, with broadcast coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit). The Eastern Conference clubs will meet again at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday before concluding their three-game season series back in the Steel City on March 31.

The Red Wings have won five of their last six games, most recently grinding out a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday. Goaltender John Gibson stopped 23 of the 24 shots the Jets sent his way, while captain Dylan Larkin and Mason Appleton each scored as the Red Wings continue to hold the top spot in an Atlantic Division that remains as tight as ever going into the New Year.

“I thought we did a really good job of keeping [the Jets] to the outside,” said Gibson, who finished 9-1-0 in the month of December. “Especially their top line, they’re really skilled and like to go East-West, limiting their playmaking ability.”

Tuesday’s result also was the NHL-leading 14th time Detroit has prevailed in one-goal decisions this season.

“Obviously, you want to win by five every night but that’s not the NHL,” Appleton said. “So, to lock games down and win them by one just goes to show our structure, resiliency and how we play that team game. We don’t change. In the last period of a game, you got to play the game the right way if you want to win games. Early [this season], I think we had a couple third periods where, we’re like, ‘What the heck happened? How did we give that one away?’ I think we’ve done a good job responding to that.”

Head coach Todd McLellan said being tested in close games is valuable for a team like the Red Wings, who continue learning how to win in different situations.

“I know when I was here last year, there were some [games] that we were in but not a lot of these -- where it was tight all the time,” McLellan said. “We were either ahead or we were behind. So, we’re experiencing it more. We have more players that have been in those situations. App would be a prime example. So, the more we can experience it, hopefully, the more we learn and the better we get.”

Currently sixth in the Metropolitan Division, the Penguins notched their second straight win by topping the visiting Carolina Hurricanes, 5-1, on Tuesday.

Captain Sidney Crosby is riding a four-game point streak with five points (two goals, three assists) over that span and on the season, leads Pittsburgh in both goals (21) and points (40). Bryan Rust is second on the team in points (34) and Anthony Mantha, who spent parts of his first six NHL seasons with the Red Wings after they picked him at No. 20 overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, has the third-most points (27).

Acquired via trade from the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 12, netminder Stuart Skinner is 1-3-0 with a 3.36 goals-against average and .869 save percentage through his first four starts in Pittsburgh.