PREVIEW: Red Wings host Blackhawks for exhibition rematch on Friday

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings will start the home portion of their 2024-25 preseason schedule on Friday night, hosting the Chicago Blackhawks at Little Caesars Arena.

Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be streamed on DetroitRedWings.com and the Red Wings Mobile App. Radio coverage on the Red Wings Radio Network can be heard on WWJ Newsradio 950 in Detroit.

Set to battle the Blackhawks for the second time in three nights, the Red Wings earned a 4-2 victory at United Center on Wednesday in the exhibition opener for both Original Six clubs. Tyler Motte, Jeff Petry, Lucas Raymond and Olli Maatta all scored for Detroit, which used three unanswered goals to erase a one-goal second-period deficit.

Head coach Derek Lalonde said he liked the Red Wings’ compete level on Wednesday.

“We’re out here diving and blocking shots in the third period to win a game,” Lalonde said. “I appreciated that from the group. Still some things we got to clean up. Naturally, this time of year, we gave up some easy offense and odd-mans. Young guys played very well. Obviously we won the special teams battle at the end of the night. A lot of positives, but a work in progress.”

When asked to project Chicago’s lineup for Thursday, Lalonde said that’s difficult to predict during the preseason because of the uniqueness of the schedule.

“We travelled a pretty good roster [on Wednesday],” Lalonde said. “I just think people get in different points of their situation, where you’re kind of forced to split teams up. Who knows where people are in their process? I foresee us fielding some pretty deep teams throughout the entire camp, probably mostly a credit to our added depth.”

From Andrew Copp’s perspective, there’s been “some consistency with the lines we’ve seen so far.”

“Every time you come into Training Camp, coaches have a good idea of what they want to do,” Copp said. “It’s always a time for some internal competition and see where things shake out. There’s definitely some of that, and how things end up fitting together will obviously be something that the coaches spend a lot of time on.”

Copp is coming off a 2023-24 campaign in which he tallied 33 points (13 goals, 20 assists) in 79 games. The 30-year-old forward said preseason reps help him get into a good rhythm to prepare for the regular season.

“Just getting in puck battles not against your buddy a little bit,” Copp said. “Just the flow of the game, the TV timeouts, warmups, get your routine going. There’s a lot of that. Nothing to take for granted -- you’re getting a chance to play in an NHL preseason game.”