PREVIEW: Red Wings continue three-game homestand, finish regular-season series with Capitals on Thursday

DETROIT – Seeking a sweep of the three-game regular-season series against one of their Eastern Conference rivals, the Detroit Red Wings will welcome the Washington Capitals back to Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night.

“We want to be a good team at home,” said Patrick Kane, who is just one point from passing Mike Modano for the most among United States-born players in NHL history. “Playing in this building is a huge advantage with the fans and the atmosphere. We have last change, so that’s always an advantage depending on what matchups the coaches want. I just think [Little Caesars Arena] is a great place to play. The fans are unbelievable here and very supportive.”

Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m., with streaming available exclusively on ESPN+ and HULU. Ken Kal and Paul Woods will have the call on the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit). A little more than a month ago, the Red Wings (32-17-5; 69 points) swept a back-to-back home-and-home set with the Capitals (25-22-7; 57 points), following up a 5-2 win at Capital One Arena on Dec. 20 with a 3-2 overtime victory at Little Caesars Arena on Dec. 21.

“When we approach a game like [Thursday], we’ll look back at those two games and already something will be missing -- the moms,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “They were a big part of those two wins. Sometimes, their wrath and looks at their sons make them compete pretty hard, so we might have to fly a few of them in. In any case, they were around and they certainly helped us. We’ll pre-scout that and look at what they’re doing now.”

The Red Wings had their five-game point streak snapped with a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. Despite the setback, Detroit continued its strong defensive play, allowing three goals or fewer for the 10th time in its last 11 contests.

“I’d start with the goaltending,” McLellan said of his club’s play in its own zone as of late. “Both Cam and Gibby have given us some real good games. We haven’t had any stinkers there. Then structurally, we’ve been doing some of the things we want to do. Our penalty kill has improved. It’s got to take off again. It’s kind of flattened out… [On Tuesday], we lose a game that probably wasn’t because of our defensive play, which in the past you couldn’t really say that.”

Meanwhile, the Capitals are set to finish a season-long six-game road trip – they’ve gone 1-3-1 on this trek so far -- and are coming off a 5-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday.

One of five clubs currently sitting eight points behind the Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conference’s second Wild-Card spot, Washington is led offensively this season by Tom Wilson’s 46 points (22 goals, 24 assists), captain Alex Ovechkin’s 45 points (22 goals, 23 assists) and John Carlson’s 43 points (nine goals, 34 assists).

“It’s remarkable what he’s done, and he continues to do it,” McLellan said of the 40-year-old Ovechkin. “He finds a way. I hope that Ovi does what Ovi wants to do [after this season], because he’s given us so many good years of hockey that if he wants to continue on, I’d be happy to watch him. I just don’t like playing against him because he finds a way to score…What he did for his team last year, providing that energy and that boost, Kaner’s doing a little bit of that for us this year too -- chasing some of his records. Our guys really want to help him get there.”

Expected to start against Detroit, netminder Charlie Lindgren owns a 7-6-3 record with a 3.41 goals-against average, .885 save percentage and one shutout in 16 contests.