Preview: Red Wings begin first road trip of season Saturday at Montreal

DETROIT -- Jeff Blashill prefers to call it urgency vs. desperation. However it is framed, he knows his team is in for a battle when the Detroit Red Wings play their first road game of the season in Montreal.
After a four-game homestand to begin the 2021-22 campaign, Detroit heads to the Bell Centre for a 7 p.m. puck drop against the Canadiens on Saturday night (Bally Sports Detroit, Red Wings Radio Network). It marks the Red Wings' first Original Six matchup of the season, and their first showdown in Canada since Feb. 29, 2020.

Both clubs figure to come out with a high level of intensity, and eager to shake off their most recent losses. Montreal, the 2021 Stanley Cup runner-up, is 0-5-0 on the early season, and has been outscored, 19-4. The Red Wings lacked the energy they generated in the previous three games during Thursday's 3-0 setback to the Calgary Flames at Little Caesars Arena.
"We didn't have that emotion that we've had, that we've played with," captain Dylan Larkin said after Thursday's loss. "You're not going to have it every night in the National Hockey League. It's 82 games, it's hard, but when we don't have our legs and our emotion, we've got to find a way to simplify and play a better hockey game."

According to Blashill, it's up to the players and coaches to manufacture energy and emotion, and to have it at their disposal every night.
"It's up to every individual guy to come with that level of energy and urgency," Blashill said. "I like the word urgency better than desperate. We've got to have that urgency, for sure, from the drop of the puck. So it's up to us to decide that that's what we're going to have.
"… We need way better in terms of our approach come Saturday night."
Detroit defeated the Canadiens both times it visited the Bell Centre in the 2019-20 season after losing nine straight in Montreal dating back to the 2016-17 campaign.
The Canadiens will look to secure their first win in the final game of their four-game homestand. Montreal hasn't scored more than one goal in a game this season, and most recently dropped a 4-1 decision against visiting Carolina on Thursday.
The Red Wings head into their three-game road swing with a 2-1-1 record and five points on the season. Detroit has scored three or more goals in three of four games, but has been held scoreless during the first and second periods in each of the last two contests.