Must Win Week For Red Wings / Detroit Hockey Now
The battered Detroit Red Wings are limping home from a 1-2-1 road trip. They are about to embark upon a three-game homestand. It’s not hyperbole to suggest that this might be the team’s most important week of the 2025-26 NHL season.
Minus three centers through injury in captain Dylan Larkin, Andrew Copp, and Michael Rasmussen, as well as rookie winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, the Red Wings are hurting, to put it bluntly. And the results of that pain speak loudly and alarmingly.
Detroit has slumped to eighth overall in the Eastern Conference. The injury-riddled Red Wings are one point clear of the Columbus Blue Jackets and two ahead of the Ottawa Senators. Both of those teams hold a game in hand on Detroit.
The Red Wings are 4-7-3 over the past 14 games.
Still, entering a week featuring three very winnable games, the Wings could turn things around in a heartbeat.
Monday: Red Wings vs Calgary Flames (7 p,m, ET)
The Flames are completing a five-game road trip. So far, Calgary is 1-3 on this journey. Overall, the Flames are 5-10-3 through their past 18 games.
The Flames have lost seven games in a row to the Red Wings. Calgary hasn’t won at Little Caesars Arena since 2021.
The Flames are the owners of the NHL’s second-worst record at 26-33-7. Scoring 2.47 goals per game, Calgary ranks last in the NHL in goal scoring. The Flames have netted two or fewer goals in 12 of the past 17 games.
Thursday: Detroit vs Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m. ET)
The Canadiens are third in the Atlantic Division with 82 points, but that’s only two points ahead of the Red Wings. And Montreal is currently mired in the midst of its own problems.
The Habs suffered back-to-back home-ice losses on the weekend to the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks. Before that slide, Montreal had garnered points in 11 of the previous 12 games (8-1-3).
The Canadiens play host to Boston before coming to Detroit. That’s a big game for the Red Wings. Boston is seventh in the East, but with 80 points, has the same total as the Wings.
A win over the Canadiens would put Detroit back in the hunt for a top-three spot in the division. However, if Montreal beats both the Bruins and the Red Wings, they’d be at a minimum four points clear of Detroit.
The visiting team has won both meetings between the Canadiens and Red Wings this season. Montreal was a 5-1 winner at LCA in Detroit’s season opener. The Wings posted a 4-0 shutout win at Montreal’s Bell Centre.
The Canadiens are 4-1-1 in their past six visits to Detroit.
Saturday: Red Wings vs Boston Bruins (8 p.m. ET)
At 80 points like the Red Wings, it’s also a big week of games for the Bruins. Boston plays at New Jersey and Montreal, then has a home date with Winnipeg before arriving for their Saturday showdown at LCA.
The Bruins are an impressive 17-5-5 over their past 27 games. However, games with Detroit have proven to be a tale of two cities. On home ice, the Bruins are 6-1 in their last seven meetings with the Red Wings. In Detroit, it’s the Wings who’ve won five of the past seven games.
This season, in three games, the home team has won every time. Detroit did claim an overtime point from a 3-2 shootout loss at Boston on November 29.
