The Detroit Red Wings open a four-game road trip Tuesday night against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena, with puck drop set for 6:40 p.m. PT and 9:40 p.m. ET. Detroit arrives on a four-game point streak and, for the first time this season, gets a chance to see whether that run travels with it.
Albert Johansson said it is fun to be on the road again as the trip begins, and that mood fits a team that has won its past two games. The Red Wings beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday, and that comeback was their first multi-goal rally of the campaign.
That matters in Seattle because the Kraken already handled Detroit once this season, winning 6-3 at Little Caesars Arena on Oct. 9. This meeting is the final one between the teams this year, and Seattle enters at 5-3-1 while Detroit is 3-3-2, a small edge in the standings that does not fully capture how close the matchup can be when Detroit is playing with pace.
Todd McLellan said the Red Wings want to establish their game on the road, and that is the real test of this trip. Lucas Raymond said the team needs to carry the stretches of strong play it has shown at home with it, while Viktor Arvidsson pointed to the comeback against San Jose as proof the group can fight back when a game turns against it.
The challenge is immediate. Seattle is coming off back-to-back losses, but it was still tied for fourth in the NHL at 3.78 goals per game going into Tuesday, and Jared McCann and Kaapo Kakko were tied for the team lead with eight points each. Detroit will learn quickly whether its recent form is a road habit or just a home comfort, because this first stop in Seattle is the clearest checkpoint on the trip.
