Red Wings announce game plan vs. division rival Senators

The Detroit Red Wings have one more game remaining on their schedule before they break for the NHL All-Star Break and earn themselves a much-needed rest,. 

Tonight, they bring in a divisional rival as the Ottawa Senators make their second and final trip this season to Little Caesars Arena, and needless to say, Detroit will be hoping for a much better result than what befell them on December 9. Not only did Ottawa win on the scoreboard by a 5-1 final, but the frightening scene of Dylan Larkin lying unconscious on the ice after once again being hurt by Mathieu Joseph is still fresh in the players and fans minds. 

However, the Red Wings know that they can't afford to let Ottawa get under their skin, as they've done in nearly every matchup since Detroit's win on New Years Eve to close out the calendar year of 2022.

“Especially when you look through the years, at least when Lucas (Raymond) and I have been here, that was always like a real (chippy) game and we always lost our minds a little bit,” Detroit’s Moritz Seider said. “I think you definitely saw improvement of just coming out there with cool heads and we’ll just play better than them and that’s what we’ll try to do (tonight).

“Play really smart hockey," he continued. "Don’t get into any stupid things. Don’t be on the refs, don’t be on them. Just focus on ourselves. We’ll handle all the other stuff. We’ll stick up for teammates if we have to, but I think we just want to play mature hockey and then I think we’ll have a good chance of winning that game.”

Meanwhile, head coach Derek Lalonde is looking to "keep it rolling" for Detroit's hot month of January and have his team control their emotions. 

“It’s really hard in this league to come up with these stretches, this hot through a stretch like this,” Lalonde said. “You see what Edmonton is doing (current 16-game winning streak), other teams have had a stretch. We’ve arguably had as good a stretch as anyone in the league and it’s put us in a real good spot. You want to get a taste of that on your way out (to the break). It’s going to be a really tough test. Ottawa is playing really well (5-2-2 in the past nine). It’s a really talented roster. They seem to be healthy right now.”

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