PREVIEW: Red Wings host Canes on Thursday on ESPN+ and Hulu

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings will play the first half of a back-to-back on Thursday night, hosting the Carolina Hurricanes at Little Caesars Arena.

Puck drop between Detroit (32-32-9; 73 points) and Carolina (47-17-9; 103 points) is set for 7:30 p.m., and the game will be streamed exclusively on ESPN+ and Hulu. Ken Kal and Paul Woods will have the call on the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit).
Fans are encouraged to arrive early for Thursday's matchup. The first 10,000 fans will receive a Red Wings-themed Tote Bag, presented by DMC.
On Tuesday, David Perron recorded his first hat trick as a member of the Red Wings in a 7-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Captain Dylan Larkin also tallied a goal and two assists for Detroit, which improved to 18-15-4 on home ice this season.
"It was a good character win," Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said. "This group hasn't quit all year and I don't expect them to quit now. We put it together and got rewarded for it."

When reflecting on the club's overall game as of late, Lalonde said there have been bright spots he hopes Detroit can build off going forward.
"Obviously not a lot of offensive punch, but we've had looks," Lalonde said. "I've felt if we kept doing some good things, and maybe got a little harder around the goalie, we'd get rewarded. (Thursday) we did."

Carolina currently owns the second-best record in the NHL behind the Boston Bruins (57-12-5), but the Hurricanes have dropped three of their past four games, most recently a 4-0 shutout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. The Canes are led offensively by Martin Necas (27-41-68), Sebastian Aho (33-29-62) and Andrei Svechnikov (23-32-55).
Three Carolina goalies - Antti Raanta, Pyotr Kochetkov and Ferederik Andersen - have combined for a 2.40 goals-against average and .907 save percentage this season.
"They play as predictable of a game as you can find in the National Hockey League right now, and they're really good at it with a really good team," Lalonde said about the Canes. "It will be a very good challenge for us."
The Hurricanes blanked the Red Wings, 1-0, at Little Caesars Arena on Dec. 13.

Husso back at practice, Fabbri to miss remainder of season

After Wednesday's practice, Lalonde said that netminder Ville Husso (lower body) is expected to play again this season.
"Ville is back in the mix," Lalonde said. "He got some opinions on where his lower-body injury is. I don't expect him probably (Thursday) or Friday. But we wanna get him back in the rhythm here and hopefully, he'll see some games down the stretch."
In 51 games this season, Husso is 25-19-6 with a 3.01 GAA and .899 SV%. According to Husso,

, he was dealing with a nagging injury that had "been there for a little bit."
Lalonde also confirmed that Robby Fabbri (lower body) underwent a minor surgical procedure and will miss the remainder of the season.
"He'll be a routine 4-6 weeks and won't miss anything in his summer training," Lalonde said. "We expect him to be fully ready next year."
Fabbri finishes with seven goals and nine assists in 28 games this season. The 27-year-old forward made his season debut on Jan. 4 after recovering from his third career ACL tear.