PREVIEW: Red Wings host Hurricanes for Tigers Night on Friday

DETROIT -- Following the Detroit Tigers’ 2025 Home Opener at Comerica Park against the Chicago White Sox earlier in the afternoon, the Detroit Red Wings will host the Carolina Hurricanes for Tigers Night at Little Caesars Arena on Friday.

Friday’s 7 p.m. puck drop (broadcast coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and 97.1 The Ticket) marks the first of a two-game homestand for Detroit (34-33-7; 75 points), which is looking to avoid a season sweep against Carolina (46-24-4; 96 points). The Red Wings fell to the Hurricanes, 2-1, at Little Caesars Arena on March 4 before dropping a 4-2 decision at Lenovo Center 10 days later (March 14).

“When you’re getting down to this stretch right before the playoffs, this stretch gets more intense,” Albert Johansson said. “There are a lot of teams fighting for the playoffs, so you can feel the intensity and physicality going up, but this is the most fun part of the year.”

Detroit continues its chase for the Eastern Conference’s second Wild-Card spot after falling on the road to the St. Louis Blues in overtime, 2-1, on Tuesday. Goalie Cam Talbot stifled the hottest club in the NHL for most of the night, but the Blues tied the game with 29 seconds left in regulation before completing the comeback with the game-winning goal in the extra session.

“A tough building against a team that’s on a winning streak right now, but I think we played well for the majority of that game [in St. Louis],” Lucas Raymond said. “Obviously we would have wanted the two points, but we’ll take one and move on.”

With six points separating the Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens, who had the second Wild-Card spot but played one more game than Detroit as of Friday morning, Johansson said the club wants to take advantage of this homestand to try to make up some ground in the standings.

“There are eight games left in the season, and we only have three at home,” Johansson said. “We need to take care of home ice, and that starts this weekend by taking care of these two games.”

After Friday’s morning skate at Little Caesars Arena, head coach Todd McLellan said he expects Elmer Soderblom to return to the Red Wings’ lineup against the Hurricanes.

Soderblom, who hasn’t played since March 24 because of an undisclosed injury, has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 23 games with Detroit this season.

And as for Carolina, it clinched a Stanley Cup Playoffs spot by defeating the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals, 5-1, on Wednesday.

Recording five points (two goals, three assists) in his last three games, Sebastian Aho leads the Hurricanes in assists (42) and points (70) this season. Seth Jarvis has scored the most goals (30), including three in his last two contests, and has the second-most points (60) on the club. Ranked third in scoring for Carolina is Andrei Svechnikov, who has 45 points (19 goals, 26 assists).

In 43 appearances this season, the most amongst the club’s netminders, Pyotr Kochetkov has posted a 26-13-3 record with a 2.54 goals-against average, .901 save percentage and two shutouts.

“We’ve played them enough recently to use our own information, video and clips about any structure things or tendencies they may have,” McLellan said about the Hurricanes. “Especially if it matches up to their recent play. That makes the pre-scout easy, but not the task of playing against them easier. They are collectively a tough team to play against, the way they attack.”