Everything you need to know ahead of tonight's game between the Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs in Detroit
DETROIT—"Sometimes we play really good hockey and then a lot of turnovers feeds offense for the other teams, so that's something we need to work on," said Detroit Red Wings forward Jonatan Berggren after this morning's optional skate, ahead of this evening's game against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs, before adding. "And that will be against Toronto. They're a high-skilled team."
The Red Wings' 11-14-4 record hasn't come from a team that can never do anything right but rather one that struggles to make the good times last, to build on the momentum of whatever positives a game brings, regardless of its outcome. As Berggren told The Hockey News this morning, "We talk about getting pucks deep and circling the puck up to the D, shot, rebound, and stuff. [If we do that,] we are a hard team to play against. But then of course, you can't do it only for 20 minutes or 40 minutes. You need to do it for a full 60. I think that's the biggest problem right now. We do not have 60 minutes that's really good solid hockey."
Nov 8, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Max Domi (11) blocks a shot by Detroit Red Wings forward Jonatan Berggren (48) during the third period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn ImagesDetroit has last six of its last seven games, but according to coach Derek Lalonde, this evening presents a different challenge from the perspective of finding some sustained semblance of confidence and momentum: "I think carrying momentum—last game out a little different...We got outplayed. We probably got what we deserved that other day—but that stretch prior to our Buffalo win, it was a little easier to build momentum off some losses, because guys were pretty good on their process. Similar message, but we were playing some decent hockey. So this'll be a little bit of a different message in that Philly put us on our heels there in that second period. That's the first time in a while, despite not getting results, where we probably got on our heels for a little bit, so this'll be a little bit of a challenge for us against a top end team finding that momentum, finding the positive play."
Like Berggren, Lalonde ultimately reduced the evening's objective to not handing Toronto's high-end talent (read: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nyalnder) easy offense by way of turnovers. "It's been an interesting team to watch back in that they haven't been the offensive juggernaut they have been in the past...But you can't give their top guys easy ice, easy looks. That'll be the challenge," Lalonde said this morning.
Lineup
Detroit will be turning back to Ville Husso in net, with Cam Talbot having suffered a setback following Thursday's start against the Flyers and Alex Lyon not yet fully recovered from his injury. As for the skating group, Lalonde said this morning that his Red Wings will run back their lineup from Thursday (shown below) with two swaps: Tyler Motte in for Christian Fischer up front and Justin Holl in for Albert Johansson on defense. Lalonde explained both moves as efforts to prevent any healthy skater from staying out of the lineup too long.
Where to Watch
Tonight's game (a scheduled 7 pm puck drop, though likely to start late to accommodate Hockey Night in Canada) is on its usual broadcast homes: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit (TV and streaming, in-market), ESPN+/Hulu (out-of-market streaming), and 97.1 The Ticket (radio).