The Daily: Red Wings Old Nemesis Is Back; Pens’ Stars Incompatible?

Patrick Roy was Darth Vader to the Detroit Red Wings in his time with the Colorado Avalanche.

The Red Wings thought they were done competing against Patrick Roy when he retired as a Hall of Fame player. That wasn’t true. Then, they thought they were done competing against him when he was done coaching the Colorado Avalanche

That wasn’t true either.

With Patrick Roy now coaching the New York Islanders, he can certainly have an impact on what happens to the Detroit Red Wings this season and beyond.

Detroit is in one of the two Eastern Conference playoff wild card spots, but Roy’s Islanders are only two points behind Detroit.  Detroit has two home games remaining with the Islanders (Feb. 29 and March 21). He won his debut with the Islanders on a 3-2 decision against the Dallas Stars Sunday. Islanders players seem thrilled to have Roy’s passion behind behind. Some thought the coaching change was needed.

Of course, the Red Wings can take Roy out of the equation if they can pass Toronto for third in the Atlantic Division. They are just one point behind the Maple Leafs.

In case you couldn’t tell how much this night and being back behind an NHL bench meant to Patrick Roy, here’s this ⁦@Sportsnet⁩ pic.twitter.com/INpMvIid6Y

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) January 22, 2024

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

• Ville Husso is nearing return from his injury. Detroit has a different goalie landscape than it had when he was injured.
• The Red Wings hope that injured Patrick Kane (lower body injury) will be able to resume skating this week.
• Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy had never lost in Detroit until the Detroit beat him Sunday night at Little Caesars Arena.
• Prospect Marco Kasper had a five-point weekend for the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Red Wings Next Game

The Red Wings play at home this week on Tuesday (Dallas), Thursday (Philadelphia) and Saturday (Vegas). Detroit boasts a handful of surging players including Dylan Larkin who has an eight-game point scoring streak (5-5–10). He also owns 24 points (13-11–24) in his past 23 games. Daniel Sprong has 11 points (5-6–11) in his past 14 games.

Hockey Now Network

Calgary: Dillon Dube is taking a leave of absence from the Calgary Flames to address his mental health.

New Jersey: Jack Hughes will be going to the NHL All-Star game, but he may not play. New Jersey Devils.

Philadelphia: Egor Zamula scored one of the weirdest goals you will see this season. Philadelphia Flyers.

Pittsburgh: The Pittsburgh Penguins’ problem: star players seem incompatible. That’s Dan Kingerski’s take.