PREVIEW: Red Wings and Canadiens kick off home-and-home back-to-back set in Detroit on Friday

DETROIT -- The Red Wings will play the front half of a back-to-back home-and-home set against the Montreal Canadiens when the Original Six and Atlantic Division rivals meet at Little Caesars Arena on Friday night.

Puck drop between the Red Wings (13-14-4; 30 points) and Canadiens (12-16-3; 27 points) is set for 7 p.m., with TV broadcast coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit).

“It’s always neat playing Montreal,” Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde said. “An Original Six matchup, you get a home and away [game]. For me personally, I grew up 90 minutes from my doorstep to Montreal. Obviously, it’s bigger than life sometimes…For us, it’s an opportunity to try to keep our game in order.”

Riding two-point nights from Lucas Raymond (one goal, one assist), J.T. Compher (one goal, one assist), captain Dylan Larkin (two assists) and Patrick Kane (one goal, one assist), the Red Wings defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-4, on Wednesday. It was Detroit’s second straight win, and third in its last four games.

“The attitude in the room has been really good,” Ben Chiarot said. “I think we’ve been playing good for a while, honestly.”

Per Lalonde, the Red Wings will be without Simon Edvinsson (upper body) for at least this back-to-back home-and-home set, and the Swedish defenseman’s status for Monday’s action against the St. Louis Blues is still to be determined.

This season, Edvinsson has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) and a plus-5 rating in 30 games.

“A great opportunity for our other D to step up,” Lalonde said. “When we had lost Simon on the West Coast trip in Anaheim there, we didn’t handle it very well. We didn’t perform great from the back end, and even [on Wednesday] when he was out, some things found us. More minutes for our other D, and they’ll step up. Looking forward to the opportunity for the guys.”

Three points separate the Red Wings and Canadiens, who are currently in seventh place, in the Atlantic Division standings. Montreal is coming off a 6-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, during which Patrik Laine recorded a hat trick.

Traded to the Canadiens by the Columbus Blue Jackets on Aug. 19, Laine has seven points (six goals, one assist) in seven games since making his Montreal debut on Dec. 3.

“He can score from anywhere,” Lalonde said about Laine. “He can score from distance. Even some of his finishes the other night, technically weren’t even in the scoring area if you will.”

Leading the Canadiens with 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) this season, captain Nick Suzuki has five points in his past five games. Cole Caufield boasts a team-high 17 goals, but has lit the lamp just once in his past seven contests. Netminder Sam Montembeault is set to start in Detroit on Friday, and has a 10-13-2 record with a 2.92 goals-against average, .902 save percentage and three shutouts in 25 games this season.

“It’s going to be two tight games, starting with [Friday’s],” Albert Johansson said. “They have a couple good guys on their team, so for us, we just need to focus on our game and try to build off the last couple games we’ve played.”