PREVIEW: Red Wings try for their eighth straight win when Lightning visit for Saturday matinee 

DETROIT -- Looking to enter the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off break on a winning note, the Detroit Red Wings will try to pick up their eighth straight victory when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Puck drop for Saturday’s matinee between Detroit (28-21-5; 61 points) and Tampa Bay (29-20-4; 62 points) is set for 1 p.m., with TV broadcast coverage airing exclusively on ABC/ESPN+ and radio coverage on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit. The Red Wings are 1-1 against the Lightning this season, including a 5-1 loss at AMALIE Arena on Jan. 18 and a 2-0 shutout win at Little Caesars Arena a week later (Jan. 25).

“All [games] are important, especially against a divisional opponent,” Lucas Raymond said. “It always means more, especially the way the standings are right now. But at the same time, for us, we need to play our game. Play the way we’ve been doing for the last seven games, just keep building off of that and getting momentum.”

A 5-4 shootout victory over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday gave Detroit an impressive sweep of its most recent four-game Western road trip, marking the fifth time in franchise history that the club has won every contest on a road swing of at least that length.

“Those buildings are tough to play in and those are good teams,” Red Wings head coach McLellan said. “And to have won games in so many different ways – we won without our power play, with great goaltending, with our power play, with above-average goaltending, not great, penalty kill – that was pretty unique. The trip itself was special, but it’s in the past now.”

An important piece down the middle, J.T. Compher (upper body) is expected to return to Detroit’s lineup on Saturday. The 29-year-old forward, who hasn’t played since Jan. 25, has missed the last five games.

“I felt pretty good the rest of that game [on Jan. 25], then obviously something that knocked me out for a little bit,” Compher said. “I felt like we did a good job getting back into the swing of things, and good to have these two practices at home [on Thursday and Friday] before I hopefully get out there.”

In 48 games this season, Compher has six goals and 15 assists with a plus-4 rating. He said he skated while the Red Wings were on the road and believes good habits have factored into their second seven-game winning streak under McLellan this season.

“I wasn’t in the locker room or playing the games so it’s hard to know for sure, but from what I’ve seen it’s just guys buying in and doing the little things,” Compher said. “You see guys throughout the lineup checking and playing the right way. Even when it’s not perfect, these guys would say the road trip wasn’t perfect, finding ways to secure points and giving yourself a chance by playing well in late-game situations is what our team did a really good job of.”

Tampa Bay is currently tied with the Ottawa Senators for third in the Atlantic Division at 62 points apiece, both just one point ahead of Detroit. The Lightning are coming off a 5-1 win over the Senators on Thursday after beating them, 4-3, just two days prior.

Nikita Kucherov (25-54—79) has the third-most assists and points in the NHL this season, while also leading Tampa Bay in both offensive categories. Brayden Point, who registered three points (one goal, two assists) on Thursday, has a team-high 29 goals. Between the pipes, Andrei Vasilevskiy has a 23-15-3 record with a 2.28 goals-against average, .919 save percentage and three shutouts this season.

“The focus has to be on playing hard and a good 60 minutes,” McLellan said. “It takes everybody to beat them. That’s where our focus will be.”