Game 2: Montreal Canadiens @ Detroit Red Wings
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Red Wings region: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit
Streaming: ESPN+, TSN+, RDS
To end the 2023-24 season, the Montreal Canadiens tried to play spoiler versus a Detroit Red Wings team aiming to prevent its playoff drought from reaching eight years. The best Montreal could muster in the two-game series was taking those games to overtime, and losing on both occasions. Despite the wins to tie the Washington Capitals in points, Detroit didn’t hold the tiebreaker and missed out again, while Montreal ended the year with just 76 points.
Last season, it was the Canadiens who ended the year with 91 points, a 15-point leap, while the Red Wings lost a few points to slip back down the pecking order. The Canadiens quickly bounced back from a major overhaul following the 2021 run to the Stanley Cup Final, while Detroit’s streak without a playoff appearance reached nine seasons.
This year, the expectation is that Montreal will get back to the post-season as they follow a trajectory toward contender status. In Detroit, it’s still unclear if the roster has what it takes to be one of the top eight in the Eastern Conference.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Red Wings (24-25) |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1-0 | Record | 39-35-8 |
| 54.4% | Expected-goal share | 48.3% (24th) |
| 2.00 | Goals per game | 2.87 (22nd) |
| 5.00 | Goals against per game | 3.16 (21st) |
| 0.0% | PP% | 27.0% (4th) |
| 100.0% | PK% | 70.1% (32nd) |
| 3-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record (24-25) | 1-3-0 |
| Oliver Kapanen (1) | Most goals | Alex DeBrincat (39) |
| Brendan Gallagher (1) | Most assists | Lucas Raymond (53) |
| Oliver Kapanen (1) | Most points | Lucas Raymond (80) |
One of the Red Wings’ biggest stumbling blocks in 2024-25 was their league-worst penalty kill that could only survive seven of every 10 penalties it was dealt. Even being one of the least-penalized teams in the league, 55 of their 259 goals against were scored while they were below even strength. Montreal, the most-penalized team in the NHL, surrendered just 49, and helped themselves with nine short-handed goals compared to Detroit’s two.
Special teams were the story for them all year long, also sporting one of the elite power plays. Unsurprisingly, the top unit of Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin, Patrick Kane, and Moritz Seider remains together again this season, and will try to at least replicate the 50 goals it generated a year ago.
Unable to simply sit idle and hope his team could take a step forward, general manager Steve Yzerman was busy in free agency, though they weren’t exactly star players he added this summer. His free-agent class includes Ian Mitchell, Jacob Bernard-Docker, James van Riemsdyk, Mason Appleton, and Travis Hamonic, only the last two of whom are expected to be in tonight’s lineup. Yzerman didn’t trade for a Noah Dobson or Zachary Bolduc to bolster what he already had, but made minor additions to the bottom half of his formation.
One boost the Red Wings will have is the highly anticipated NHL debut from defenceman Axel Sandin-Pellikka. He leads a second power-play unit as coach Todd McLellan hopes to get more than the 14 goals created on the man advantage when the top fivesome was on the bench last year. The reigning Swedish Junior hockey player of the year and the 2025 World Juniors’ best defenceman will be looked to as a catalyst for some secondary offence, both on what is already a productive power play and at five-on-five alongside compatriot and young stalwart Simon Edvinsson. He could just be the difference between the playoff drought reaching double digits and the gift of a post-season berth for the Red Wings’ centennial celebration.
