The Detroit Red Wings believe they must take advantage of their current homestand to enhance their playoff chances.
They started off their stretch of five consecutive home games prior to the All-Star break on a positive note by collecting a 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay, one of the many teams they’re battling for a postseason berth.
The Dallas Stars are the next team to visit the Red Wings on Tuesday night.
Daniel Sprong scored the go-ahead goal in the second period on Sunday and the Red Wings held on despite allowing 18 shots on goal and committing three penalties in the third.
The Red Wings lost to Carolina on Thursday after collecting 13 of a possible 14 points in their previous seven games.
“I think we played really well (Sunday), maybe one of the more complete games we’ve played all season,” goaltender Alex Lyon said. “Really difficult to come off a road trip emotionally and physically. The way that we responded was awesome. You can’t let those little snowballs start rolling down the hill. We kind of nipped it in the bud. We got another big one in two days.”
Detroit will also face Philadelphia, Vegas and Ottawa prior to the break.
“It’s an important stretch,” defenseman Jeff Petry said. “In our last two road trips our game grew. It’s an important time, with the homestand, so we’ve got to take care of business here.”
The victory gave the Red Wings 53 points in 46 games but there are 11 other Eastern Conference teams with at least 48 points.
“If we’re going to continue to stay in this fight, we have to take care of home ice,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “That goes for anyone who has aspirations to be relevant toward the end of the year.”
The Stars defeated the Red Wings 6-3 in their first meeting of the season last month. Miro Heiskanen led Dallas with two goals and an assist.
Following a strong stretch in December, the Stars have been rather ordinary this month, going 5-4-2. They’ll be wrapping up a four-game road trip on Tuesday.
In their last game on Sunday, they lost to the New York Islanders 3-2 in overtime.
Dallas was playing the second game of a back-to-back, having won 6-2 over the New Jersey Devils the day before. Goaltender Scott Wedgewood guarded the net in both games with Jake Oettinger battling an illness.
“I thought it was a really good effort considering the circumstances,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Back to back. (Oettinger) was supposed to play but he came down with the flu. So Wedgy had to go in at the last minute. We lost (forward Craig) Smith in the first period to an injury, so we had a short bench. I thought we played a hell of a road game. Sometimes you hit a hot goalie and that was probably the difference (Sunday), but I liked our group’s effort.”
Heiskanen has been sidelined since Jan. 4 due to a lower-body injury but is expected to return before the All-Star break.
The Islanders were playing their first game under new coach Patrick Roy.
“I felt like it was a pretty good game,” Stars defenseman Nils Lundkvist said. “We played a desperate team with them changing the coach and the second game of a back-to-back. We hoped to get a win, but one point and we’ll keep going.”
–Field Level Media