Michal Postava will make his first NHL start in net for the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night against the Edmonton Oilers, a bold assignment at the end of a four-game road trip. The game is set for 7:30 p.m. MT, 9:30 p.m. ET at Rogers Place.
The timing matters because Detroit is putting a goalie with one NHL appearance into a matchup with a team that leads the NHL in goals per game at 4.36. Edmonton comes in at 8-2-1 with 17 points, while the Red Wings are 4-4-3 with 11 points, and the teams will not meet again until Jan. 2 at Little Caesars Arena.
Postava made his NHL debut in Vancouver two days earlier, but this is the first time Detroit is asking him to start a game from the opening faceoff. That decision comes after the Red Wings lost 4-1 to the Calgary Flames on Saturday, a result that ended their six-game point streak and brought their first regulation loss in seven contests. Edmonton also stumbled Saturday, losing 7-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs, though Connor McDavid still picked up two assists and pushed his season-opening point streak to 11 consecutive games.
The matchup gives Detroit a direct test of whether it can absorb pace and clean up mistakes against one of the league’s most productive attacks. McDavid has 8 goals and 25 assists for 33 points, Leon Draisaitl has 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points, and Evan Bouchard has 7 goals and 14 assists for 21 points. Todd McLellan, who spent four seasons as Edmonton’s bench boss from 2015-19, said the Oilers are managing the puck better than they have in the past, while J.T. Compher and Viktor Arvidsson both stressed that Detroit has to be ready for a dangerous, high-octane offense. Alex DeBrincat put it more simply: McDavid is moving so fast that everything he does seems to happen at full speed.
McLellan left open the possibility that there could be some lineup changes in front of Postava, but the only confirmed move is the start itself. That leaves the rest of the night to be decided on the ice, where Detroit will need to protect its young goalie quickly and try to avoid giving Edmonton the kind of easy rushes and open ice the Oilers thrive on.
