PREVIEW: Detroit takes on Seattle to open three-game homestand on Tuesday

DETROIT -- Carrying a three-game point streak into their three-game homestand opener, the Detroit Red Wings will host the Seattle Kraken at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday night.

Ahead of Tuesday’s 7 p.m. puck drop (broadcast coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Extra and 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit), the Red Wings (11-7-1; 23 points) ranked second in the Atlantic Division and the Kraken (9-4-5; 23 points) were third in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division.

As Detroit reaches the quarter mark of its Centennial season, head coach Todd McLellan shared his assessment of the club’s play and what areas of growth look like to date.

“Some of the goals that we set out heading into the season -- looking for improvement on the penalty kill, obviously that, for the most part, has happened,” McLellan said. “We’ve had a couple bad nights, but for the most part, knock on wood, has been pretty solid. The power play has been up and down a little bit. We want to be better 5-on-5, so there’s improvement there. The consistency, we seem to ride waves then crash even within games. We’ve got to become more consistent. We’ve shown signs of being resilient, which is a good thing. We have a lot of work to do still.”

The Red Wings showed some of that resilience on Sunday, holding off the New York Rangers for a 2-1 win at Madison Square Garden roughly 24 hours after falling to the Buffalo Sabres in overtime at Little Caesars Arena. In New York, Alex DeBrincat opened the scoring on the power play and Lucas Raymond scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period.

“Overall, it was a good game,” said DeBrincat, who is on a three-game point streak (five goals, one assist). “I think we stayed on top of them a lot, played in their zone for a good amount of time. When we got caught out there, obviously they’re a good team and they’re going to keep you in your zone a little bit, but we didn’t crumble. Talbs played great – it’s always nice to have that.”

The 27-year-old forward, who was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week on Monday for the period Nov. 10 -16, has collected 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 19 games this season.

“It’s pretty cool,” DeBrincat said about being recognized by the NHL. “A lot of good players in the League, maybe got a couple chintzy goals there but I’ll take them all. For us right now, it’s keeping this momentum. Obviously, [Saturday’s game against] Buffalo wasn’t great but we had some good parts of the game. We need to keep this good attitude going.”

Tuesday’s game will kick off a four-game road trip for the Kraken, who most recently pulled away from the San Jose Sharks for a 4-1 win at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday. Jaden Schwartz leads the club with 14 points (seven goals, seven assists), followed by captain Jordan Eberle with 13 points (seven goals, six assists). Chandler Stephenson (four goals, eight assists) and Vince Dunn (three goals, nine assists) each have 12 points.

On Tuesday morning, Seattle activated Joey Daccord from injured reserve. Expected to start against the Red Wings, the 29-year-old netminder is 6-2-3 with a 2.83 goals-against average and .900 save percentage with one shutout in 11 contests this season.

“They don’t give up much,” McLellan said about the Kraken. “They’re willing to win 2-1 or 3-2 and have enough firepower up front that they can sting you if they get gifts. There’s a tenacity to their team. I think Lane’s done an outstanding job of creating a tenacious identity for their team. Responsible checking identity, too. He’s been good for their hockey club.”