Red Wings confident ‘in what we have in this room’ as they prepare for final multi-game homestand of 2024-25 regular season this weekend

DETROIT -- Set to play at Little Caesars Arena just three more times before the end of the 2024-25 regular season, the Detroit Red Wings know defending home ice will be imperative if they want to stay in the chase for the Eastern Conference’s second Wild-Card spot.

And two chances to collect some big points are coming this weekend, as the Red Wings will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night before the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers visit on Sunday night.

“You can’t give up those points on home ice,” Alex DeBrincat said. “There are a lot of great teams coming up on our schedule, so to get the confidence and beat one of those teams right off the bat tomorrow is going to go a long way, but we got to come ready to play.”

Detroit (34-33-7; 75 points) entered Thursday four points behind the Montreal Canadiens (35-30-9; 79 points) for the Eastern Conference’s final postseason spot but also need to jump past the Columbus Blue Jackets (34-30-9; 77 points) and New York Rangers (36-32-7; 79 points) to play beyond its regular-season finale on April 17.

Also going into Thursday, the Red Wings and Canadiens each had eight contests remaining in their respective 82-game campaigns while the Blue Jackets had nine and the Rangers had seven.

“I check out [the standings],” DeBrincat said. “It’s hard not to at this point of the year. Where we’re at, we’re confident in what we have in this room. The ability to come back, I know four points isn’t necessarily easy, but it’s definitely possible. I think we have the group to do it.”

Time is ticking for Detroit, which is why captain Dylan Larkin acknowledged and his teammates need to keep working hard and improve their play if they want to achieve their goal of earning a Stanley Cup Playoffs berth.

“We've all been feeling the pressure," Larkin said. "I always try and just go out there and play the next shift. Play as hard as I can and try and lead by example, try and calm the storm on the ice

The Red Wings got another valuable opportunity to work on the details of their game during practice at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center on Thursday afternoon, after which head coach Todd McLellan updated the statuses of Elmer Soderblom and goalie Petr Mrazek, both of whom have been dealing with undisclosed injuries.

“Both skated and participated,” McLellan said. “Full participation, so I’m assuming they’re good, but I haven’t spent any time with the [medical] staff. Elmer is probably closer to playing, in the coaches’ minds anyhow, than Petr is. He just needs a couple more days as a goaltender. We have our fingers crossed that [Soderblom] could possibly return tomorrow.”