DETROIT – After playing solid hockey over the past six weeks, the Detroit Red Wings head into the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off break with a 28-22-5 record (61 points), holding the Eastern Conference’s second Wild Card spot and ranking fifth in the Atlantic Division.
While captain Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond will represent the United States and Sweden, respectively, at the international tournament, the rest of the team will benefit from some time off, according to goaltender Cam Talbot.
“It’s a long season,” Talbot said. “This break allows us to reset both physically and mentally. We’ll have a few practices once we return, but we can’t afford any letdowns. We need to build on the progress we’ve made, but the main focus is getting healthy, resetting, and coming back prepared.”
Detroit is eager to carry momentum into the final stretch of the season, especially after seeing both a seven-game winning streak and an eight-game point streak snapped in a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
“We can take a moment to regroup,” said head coach Todd McLellan. “As a staff, we’ll analyze what we’ve done well and what needs improvement. Some of the issues we saw on Saturday are key. Game management is difficult to practice because there’s no real score, fatigue, or line-matching. Those skills develop through video analysis and experience. To take the next step, we need to improve in that area.”
Detroit will return to action on Feb. 22, hosting the Minnesota Wild for Kids Day at Little Caesars Arena. Defenseman Erik Gustafsson noted that the Red Wings have a challenging schedule ahead, with 15 of their final 27 games on the road. He emphasized the importance of taking advantage of this rare break in the season.
“I’m going to rest as much as possible,” Gustafsson said. “Spend time with family. We all need to enjoy the time off because we know it’ll be a battle once we’re back. We’ve worked hard to get to this position in the standings, but we have to keep pushing forward.”
While participating in the 4 Nations Face-Off will be an exciting opportunity, Larkin and Raymond won’t get the same rest and recovery time as their teammates.
“They’ll be on the road for another two weeks,” head coach Todd McLellan said. “We just finished a long road trip, and now they’ll barely have time to reset before heading out again. It’s basically three and a half weeks of travel for them. The intensity and stress of the tournament will follow them, and they’ll jump right back into the season without much recovery. They’ll miss out on getting their bodies back to 100%, but we’ll find days along the way to give them the rest they need.”
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