Detroit, MI

Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks: What time, TV channel is today’s game on?

Published

1 year ago

December 18, 2023

Press Room

Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks: What time, TV channel is today’s game on?

Detroit Red Wings (15-11-4) vs. Anaheim Ducks (11-19-0)

When: 7 p.m. Monday.

Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

TV: Bally Sports Detroit Extra.

Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1; Red Wings radio affiliates).

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RAISING KANE: Patrick Kane looks poised to start producing at point-per-game rate for Detroit Red Wings

Game notes: After facing playoff contenders for most of the past week, the Red Wings finally get a break as the Ducks (who entered Sunday in last in the Pacific Division —yes, even worse than the Sharks, who lost their first 11 games this season) hit the pond at LCA.

Ducks GM (and former Wings player and exec) Pat Verbeek — aka “The Little Ball of Hate” — ruffled a few feathers when he took Swedish center Leo Carlsson over Michigan star (and Hobie Baker winner) Adam Fantilli with the No. 2 pick in this summer’s draft; it’s too soon to tell whether he was right, but Carlsson has been solid, with eight goals and six assists in 21 games after missing the start of the season with injuries. (Fantilli’s at eight and nine, respectively, in 32 games, but who’s counting?)

Of course, Anaheim’s bigger issue in an offense that’s scoring just 2.63 goals a game (fourth-worst this season, despite five goals Sunday night) is the lack of production from human highlight reel Trevor Zegras. A 23-goal scorer each of the past two seasons, the 2019 No. 9 overall pick had one goal and one assist in 12 games before going on injured reserve with a lower-body injury in early November. He’s back practicing with the team now, though. Likewise, defenseman Jamie Drysdale, a 2020 first-rounder, has played just two games. More recently, 20-year-old Mason MaTavish, who starred at the World Juniors last year and had 10 goals and 11 assists in 24 games this season, missed Friday’s and Sunday’s games with an upper-body injury (though he was a game-time decision both nights).

Who’ll be in net for the Ducks? Veteran John Gibson, who received Vezina Trophy votes as recently as 2019, started Sunday in New Jersey, though he was pulled after two periods, just a bit after he allowed his only goal on 19 shots faced. The Ducks later said Gibson was “under the weather”; his replacement, Lukáš Dostál, stopped all 10 shots he faced.

At least the Ducks are getting a career year from 29-year-old Frank Vatrano; despite a seven-game goalless streak, Vatrano’s 14 tallies lead the Ducks and he’s on pace for 38 goals, well over his 22 from last season.

The Wings, of course, are feeling the brunt of injuries, too. Captain Dylan Larkin, who went down last week in a nasty-looking 2-on-1 hit vs. Ottawa — resulting in, yep, “an upper-body injury” — is eligible to come off the injured reserve list today, but head coach Derek Lalonde suggested that would be “aggressive,” especially when keeping Larkin out the rest of the week would give him the holiday break to heal up as well.

The Wings need to find offense from someone, however; despite entering Sunday with the league’s fourth-best offense (3.57 goals a game), they’ve scored just once in their past 120 minutes on the ice, resulting in losses to Carolina and Philadelphia. Forward Alex DeBrincat, who had nine goals in his first seven games as a Wing, has just four since, and only one in his past 11 games (a score in Montreal on Dec. 2). He still leads the Wings in goals and points (26).

Detroit has three more games before the holiday break in what should be a busy week (but isn’t it always at this time of the year?); the Wings zip West to Manitoba to face the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday, back home Friday to host the Philadelphia Flyers (who they lost to, 1-0, on Saturday) and then close it out with a trip to New Jersey to exorcise the Devils on Saturday night. The Ducks, meanwhile, wrap up a four-game Eastern swing in Detroit, then head to SoCal for an eight-game homestand, including visits from the Calgary Flames (on Thursday) and Seattle Kraken (on Saturday) before the break).

Live updates

For updates from and around the rink, check it out on X.

Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.

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Detroit, MI

Don’t ‘disrespect’ this unsung hero to Detroit Lions’ defense

Published

10 minutes ago

May 24, 2025

Press Room

Don’t ‘disrespect’ this unsung hero to Detroit Lions’ defense

Lost in the excitement of draft picks and free agents, a healthy DJ Reader might be one of the most important aspects of the Detroit Lions’ offseason – and the veteran nose tackle will be entering training camp with something to prove after hearing whispers about his contract.

“I think there has been some slight disrespect thrown on DJ Reader’s name this offseason as a cap casualty. … Are you kidding me? They paid for DJ Reader for a reason. This guy is a game-changing nose tackle,” MLive’s Ben Raven noted on the latest Dungeon of Doom podcast.

For the first time in years, Reader is entering an offseason program fully healthy and ready to show Detroit exactly what it invested in.

“The biggest thing that I took away from DJ Reader, he said, like, hey, this is the healthiest offseason I’ve had in quite some time. And he’s just ready to get in there and get back rolling,” co-host Kory Woods said.

The timing couldn’t be better for the Lions’ defensive front, which is facing significant questions with Aidan Hutchinson returning from injury and Alim McNeill working his way back as well. Reader’s presence becomes even more critical.

The podcast hosts pointed out that Reader’s impact goes far beyond statistics. While casual fans might focus on sack numbers and tackles, Reader’s true value comes in occupying blockers, controlling the line of scrimmage, and making everyone around him better.

Despite questions about his deal, Reader made it clear that winning a championship is all that matters.

“He doesn’t care about anything else. He said he didn’t care about whether that extension got picked up or whatnot. Right now it is all about getting to that goal of winning the Super Bowl,” Woods said.

Check out the entire Dungeon of Doom episode below:

AI was used to summarize a recent episode of the Dungeon of Doom podcast. This story was reviewed and edited by MLive staff.

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Detroit, MI

Detroit Tigers OF/3B Matt Vierling returns from injured list; Sean Guenther optioned

Published

17 hours ago

May 23, 2025

Press Room

Detroit Tigers OF/3B Matt Vierling returns from injured list; Sean Guenther optioned

At last, Matt Vierling has arrived.

The Detroit Tigers activated Vierling — an outfielder/third baseman on the field and a team leader behind the scenes — from the injured list ahead of their Friday, May 23, game against the Cleveland Guardians at Comerica Park. He wasn’t in the starting lineup, but he’s available as a pinch-hitter off the bench.

The 28-year-old had been sidelined since Feb. 23 — the second game of spring training — with a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder. In total, Vierling missed 51 games this season.

But now, he’s finally back.

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To create room for Vierling, the Tigers optioned left-handed reliever Sean Guenther to Triple-A Toledo. On May 24, the Tigers are expected to activate right-hander Casey Mize to start, which will lead to the demotion of a position player.

Vierling has been a mainstay for the Tigers the past two seasons.

He had the best results of his four-year MLB career in the 2024 campaign, hitting .257 with 16 home runs, 41 walks and 121 strikeouts in 144 games. He plays all three outfield positions and third base, but he performs best in center field and right field.

Returning to the Tigers, Vierling projects to play right field and third base, with ex-infielder Javier Báez expected to continue roaming center field until Parker Meadows is activated from the injured list within the next three weeks.

Meadows — who has been sidelined since Feb. 22 with a right upper arm nerve issue — started his rehab assignment May 20, which began his 20-day rehab clock.

He must be activated by June 9.

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As for Vierling, he played 11 games on his rehab assignment. He hit .206 with two home runs, nine walks and 14 strikeouts in43 plate appearances. He spent five games at designated hitter, three games at third base for 21 innings, two games in right for 13 innings and one game in center for nine innings.

The Tigers took their time with Vierling’s rehab assignment to ensure the rotator cuff strain in his right shoulder wouldn’t resurface with throws from different angles.

It took 19 days, but Vierling eventually checked all the boxes.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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