PREVIEW: Red Wings kick off matinee weekend Saturday at Bruins

BOSTON -- Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde has stressed the challenge that awaits his club: a back-to-back home-and-home set against the league-leading Boston Bruins, which begins on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.

"They're the best team in the league," Lalonde said. "They're trying to put themselves as one of the best teams of all time and we're not right now, which is understandable. Our attention to detail, compete, execution and mindset need to be exact to give ourselves a chance."
Dylan Larkin said he's anxious to see how Detroit (29-26-9; 67 points) stacks up against Boston (43-9-5; 103 points).
"We felt last game that we dominated 5-on-5," the Red Wings captain said. "We did it by the way we played, not by the way the other team played. We're gonna have to bring that."
Puck drop for Saturday's matinee between the Original Six rivals is set for 1 p.m., with TV broadcast coverage airing exclusively on ABC/ESPN+. Ken Kal and Paul Woods will have the call on the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit).
Detroit ended a six-game winless streak with a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks
on Wednesday. Larkin, Jake Walman, Lucas Raymond and Dominik Kubalik all scored for the Red Wings, who secured their fourth multi-goal comeback victory of the season.

"I liked this game a ton," Lalonde said. "We've talked about not giving up on the season, and (Wednesday) was a perfect example of that. We were down, 2-0, and had an unbelievable second period. Then got down, 3-2, and still came back."
Boston is hoping to rebound from a 3-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Brad Marchand (20-35-55) and David Pastrnak (45-41-86) both scored first-period goals for the Bruins, who saw their 10-game winning streak snapped.
A familiar face is expected to be in Boston's lineup on Saturday, as Tyler Bertuzzi is set to play the Red Wings for the first time this season.
Bertuzzi, drafted by Detroit in the second round (No. 28) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, recorded 202 points (88 goals, 114 assists) in 305 games with the Red Wings before being traded to the Bruins ahead of this year's trade deadline.

Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark is putting together a Vezina Trophy-caliber season, and leads the NHL in wins (32), goals-against average (1.89) and save percentage (.938).
Boston pulled away from Detroit, 5-1, at TD Garden on Oct. 27.

Lalonde is optimistic Fabbri will return before end of the season

The Red Wings will be without Robby Fabbri for an extended period of time because of a lower-body injury, the result of being hit along the boards in the first period of Wednesday's game.
"Fabs will not be available this weekend," Lalonde said after Friday's practice at BELFOR Training Center. "Fairly optimistic that we'll see him again this year. Hopefully, not long-term."
In a corresponding move, Detroit recalled Austin Czarnik from the American Hockey League's Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions on Friday.

Lalonde said the decision to recall Czarnik was truly "positional."
"Our forward group isn't a whole lot different than where we were at the beginning of the year," Lalonde said. "Czarnik gave us good minutes early on. We'll plug him in and go."
Czarnik has two goals and one assist in 12 games with the Red Wings this season. The 30-year-old forward has also appeared in 42 games with the Griffins, recording 36 points on 13 goals and 23 assists.