PREVIEW: Red Wings open four-game homestand with Original Six clash versus Rangers on Friday

DETROIT -- Both celebrating their respective Centennial seasons, the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers will square off at Little Caesars Arena on Friday night.

Friday’s puck drop is set for 7 p.m., with broadcast coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Extra and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit). Following the Rangers (6-6-2; 14 points), the Red Wings (9-5-0; 18 points) will welcome the Chicago Blackhawks – another Original Six club enjoying its own Centennial campaign – on Sunday afternoon.

Additionally, the first 7,500 fans in attendance on Friday night will receive a Vintage Bobblehead, presented by Comerica Bank.

“Everybody talks about getting your game going again and coming back from a long road trip, but you usually talk about it a lot more when you’re not playing well,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “Then, it becomes an excuse. If you have a great game, nobody even mentions it…We have to get our game going at home again and find it quickly.”

The Red Wings return to lace up their skates in front of Hockeytown faithful after a 3-2-0 road trip out West, an eight-day stretch that ended with a 1-0 shutout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night.

“Vegas is a really good team,” Mason Appleton said. “They didn’t give us much and we didn’t get much ourselves, but we got a winning road trip. Anytime you have more points than games on the road, that usually makes for a pretty good trip. We liked a lot of it and now, we just have to carry that back on home ice. We’re at home for a while, especially when you’re on the road that long, you set yourself up for a nice homestand if you play well on the road. We’re just going to try to stack some wins here and keep playing our game.”

Expanding on Detroit’s extended stretch away from Little Caesars Arena, Appleton added that he felt the club continued to build on the defensive part of its game.

“You look at some games, where maybe we got a little bit loose at times, but I thought we defended the right way the whole trip,” Appleton said. “Vegas only gets one. Like I said, they didn’t give us much, but we didn’t give them a ton either. Goaltending has been good. We’ve been limiting off the rush. Definitely cleaning up some things that we’ve worked on the last month or so, and it’s nice to see that all coming together.”

Looking at Friday, the Red Wings are positioned to benefit from an offensive reinforcement as McLellan confirmed that Patrick Kane will return to the lineup after missing the past nine games with an upper-body injury. In five contests this season, Kane has five points (two goals, three assists).

Meanwhile, the Rangers are amidst their first campaign under head coach Mike Sullivan and were most recently blanked by the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-0, at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. Although that result extended its home-ice winless streak to six straight games, New York is 6-1-1 on the road so far this season.

“Sully and his staff have done a really good job,” McLellan said. “You can see them take on some of his tendencies as a head coach. The players seem to be buying into it. They’re the best team on the road in the League so far, and they’ll figure out their home game.”

Adam Fox (three goals, eight assists) leads the Rangers with 11 points, followed by captain J.T. Miller (three goals, five assists) with eight points and Artemi Panarin (two goals, five assists) with seven points. Goalie Igor Shesterkin has made 11 starts, posting a 4-5-2 record, 2.26 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and one shutout.

“They’re a really good hockey club,” McLellan added. “They don’t give up anything, really, when you look at it. And when they do, their goaltenders are there bailing them out. It’s a tough team to score against.”