Intensity critical to besting Atlantic rival Senators, DeBrincat reflects on his return to Ottawa, a goaltending update, and everything else you need to know before Red Wings-Sens this afternoon

This afternoon, the Detroit Red Wings will return to game action for the first time in nearly a week—taking on the Ottawa Senators at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.  Here's everything you need to know ahead of the first leg of a back-to-back for Detroit as part of the NHL's Global Series.

Red Wings Preach Intensity Ahead of Clash with Sens

Of course, a trip to Europe brought about some levity and tourism for the traveling Red Wings, but now the team has reached the business end of the trip.  Detroit believes playing with intensity will be central to coming away satisfied from two big divisional games, beginning with the Senators today.

"I think mentality-wise, we had a little bit of a lull before we came over," said Andrew Copp at a Wednesday press conference.  "Our last game [against the Blue Jackets] was pretty good, [so we're] trying to build off that."

"Against Ottawa especially," Copp continued, "you gotta bring your compete.  They're a hard-working group.  They capitalize on turnovers if they happen.  They play fast.  They play hard.  Our intensity and competitiveness is gonna have to be ready to go right from the get go."

"When we're skating and we're moving and playing on our toes is when we're at our best," said Copp, noting that the message entering today's game is to make sure that the group plays in a way that reflects that contention.

"We're definitely itching to play now," added J.T. Compher of the lay-off since the Columbus game.  "It's a lot of fun to come over, it's a really cool arena, [the] city's been great, but these are important points."

When asked what it would take to recapture the form that saw Detroit take a 5-2 result in Ottawa at the end of October, Copp replied, "Starting on time and starting fast is gonna be really important.  I think we saw throughout that game that our speed gave them problems."

Coach Derek Lalonde believes his team has put in the necessary work since arriving in Sweden to play the way they need to, with the Detroit fans attending the team's skate providing an extra jolt of energy.  "I was taken aback by how intense practice was [Tuesday] with two, three hundred people out there."

DeBrincat Reflects on Return to Ottawa

In the aforementioned October victory over the Sens, Alex DeBrincat returned to the Canadian capital for the first time since being traded from Ottawa to Detroit over the summer.

The contest proved DeBrincat's first game as a Red Wing without a point, but it did deliver two viral moments, which the Farmington Hills-born winger discussed with The Hockey News in the days after the game: footage of DeBrincat laughing on the bench as Senators fans booed a Jumbotron message welcoming him back to the Canadian Tire Centre and a scrum with former teammate Matthew Tkachuk.

"I was just looking out on the ice and [Thomas] Chabot was laughing at me," explained DeBrincat of the booing/laughing incident.  "That's where the laugh came from...It is what it is.  I knew what to expect.  It's a good rivalry we have going."

When asked whether he felt any frustration at the fact that some Senators fans seemed to misunderstand the particulars surrounding his exit, DeBrincat explained, "it's just part of it.  [Whether they know the truth about why and how I left] or not, they have every right to be upset I left and greet me the way they did."  He added that he didn't seek out much of the discourse around the trade, but that glimpses of it would inevitably crop up on his Twitter feed. 

As for the incident with Tkachuk, DeBrincat was again unbothered, even if the scuffle caused something of a social media stir.

"It's the game of hockey," DeBrincat said.  "He's very competitive, and so am I.  He didn't necessarily like what happened in the scrum...It's a competitive game, but you see each other after the game, and it's all fine."

He added that the temporary hostilities inevitable in a 60-minute hockey game didn't preclude him from enjoying a dinner with some of his former teammates the night before the game, nor greeting a few others afterwards. 

When put together, the two incidents (or perhaps more accurately non-incidents) seem to say more about the imperturbable DeBrincat's demeanor than about any simmering tensions between himself and his former team.

Husso Back Stateside with Newborn Daughter; Reimer and Lyon to Handle the Goaltending

Normal starting goaltender Ville Husso won't be available for either leg of the Red Wings' Swedish journey, having returned stateside to join his wife as the couple welcomed their newborn daughter Emmi Marie into the world.

With Husso unavailable, James Reimer will start, and third-stringer Alex Lyon will serve as the team's back-up.  Per The Athletic's Max Bultman, Derek Lalonde said that Lyon would be the likely starter tomorrow against the Toronto Maple Leafs but that he wouldn't rule out Reimer starting back-to-back.

Where to Watch

In the U.S., this afternoon's Red Wings-Senators game (a 2:00 PM Eastern, 8:00 PM local scheduled puck drop) will be broadcast by the NHL Network.

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