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Wings, Lightning cap off a big Detroit-Tampa Bay day

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Wings, Lightning cap off a big Detroit-Tampa Bay day


The Detroit Lions have captivated the state of Michigan, and the state’s collective focus seems to be on the team’s NFC divisional round playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Still, there’s another game between teams from Detroit and the Tampa area being played Sunday night in downtown Detroit.

The Red Wings are focused on ending their seven-year playoff drought, and they’ll play a key Eastern Conference game against Tampa Bay on Sunday night, set to start shortly after the Lions’ game ends. The NHL game time was moved to 7 p.m., in part to accommodate fans who want to watch both games.

The Red Wings lost their first regulation game in 2024 on Friday, falling to Carolina 4-2 to end a three-game road trip. They had gone 6-0-1 in January to climb back into the postseason picture.

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The Hurricanes tossed a defensive net over the Red Wings, limiting them to 12 shots on goal.

“It’s been a real good road trip, a disappointing result (Friday), but that’s a real good hockey team in this building,” said forward J.T. Compher, who scored one of Detroit’s goals. “They play super tight, they play the right way, and we probably didn’t do enough to break through offensively. You have to keep chipping the puck in and get it back, but they played real good, and it’s not the result we wanted.”

Detroit had won its previous three games, including road victories over Toronto and Florida.

“They bring it every single night,” Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon said of the Hurricanes. “I know a lot of guys on that team, and they’re ultra-competitive and they always show up. It’s a good measuring stick for us in this difficult stretch. But if we keep trending in the right direction, keep playing like that, we’ll be successful more times than not.”

Detroit’s Patrick Kane missed the game due to a lower-body injury and isn’t expected to play on Sunday. Linemate Alex DeBrincat is trying to break out of a slump.

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DeBrincat, who is tied for the team lead with 40 points, hasn’t scored a goal in the past nine games. He scored two goals against the Lightning in Detroit’s home opener in October, a 6-4 Red Wings victory.

Sunday’s matchup will begin a stretch of six consecutive home games for the Red Wings, all but one before the All-Star break.

Tampa Bay will play the second game of a back-to-back set; the Lightning defeated Buffalo 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.

Nicholas Paul had a goal and an assist as the Lightning stretched their winning streak to five games. Tyler Motte contributed a short-handed goal, and Calvin de Haan clinched the victory with an empty-netter.

“The urgency in our game has really been there of late,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

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Backup goaltender Jonas Johannson made 26 saves in his first outing since Dec. 31.

“I thought we defended great today. Didn’t really give them too much for the first two periods,” Cooper said. “Third period, they had the puck more than we did, but I never completely felt in duress. In the end, you’ve got to keep the puck out of your net. When you give up one goal, you’ve got a good chance of winning the game, and that’s what we did.”

Andrei Vasilevskiy will get the call on Sunday. He’s 14-2 in 16 career starts against the Red Wings with a 2.08 goals-against average and a .929 saves percentage.

–Field Level Media

Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

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Detroit, MI

Detroit Lions score 4 players with AP All-Pro nods, including 2 first-timers

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Detroit Lions score 4 players with AP All-Pro nods, including 2 first-timers


ALLEN PARK — Jack Campbell and Penei Sewell were named to the AP All-Pro first-team for the Detroit Lions.

It’s the third consecutive first-team nod for Sewell, 25, who was also named Pro Football Focus’ protector of the year earlier this week. PFF graded Sewell as the top offensive lineman, and not just tackle, in the NFL this season. He allowed only two sacks and 19 pressures across 601 pass-blocking snaps as the top-ranked pass-blocking offensive lineman.

For all the focus on the offensive line and what needs to happen this offseason, Sewell’s presence gives them a cornerstone, blue-chip piece to build around.

Campbell earned his first Pro Bowl and All-Pro nod this season, putting the bows on a true breakout campaign for the former first-round pick. The 25-year-old joins Chris Spielman and Joe Schmidt as the only Lions linebackers ever to make the All-Pro first-team.

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The linebacker finished the season by playing all 17 games for the third straight season, posting career highs in tackles (176), sacks (five), forced fumbles (three), fumble recoveries (two) and tackles for loss (nine). Campbell did all this while taking over the green dot for the first time, and playing more snaps than any other teammate — offense, defense or special teams.

The third-year linebacker finished the season as PFF’s second-best overall linebacker, trailing only Fred Warner of the San Francisco 49ers. Campbell’s 176 tackles were the second-most in the league in 2025.

“He’s extremely valuable,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said of his linebacker last month. “He’s taken more reps than anybody on this team. He plays on kickoff for us, and he’s an asset on kickoff and then everything you see on defense. He doesn’t come off the field; he’s our bell-cow, green-dot. And he does –, and the guy is smart, and he’s instinctive, and he is snap-to-whistle all-out, all the time, in practice too. And he doesn’t take plays off, he doesn’t take days off, he goes after the football, he’s a ball guy.

“So, he’s invaluable.”

Amon-Ra St. Brown, who had made the first team in consecutive years, was named to the AP’s second team this time around. St. Brown finished the season fifth in receptions (117), fifth in yards (1,401), tied for second in touchdowns (11) and seventh in yards after the catch (570).

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The star wideout became the first player in league history to have at least 90 catches through a player’s first five seasons. St. Brown has at least 100 catches and 1,000 yards in four straight seasons, and has caught double-digit touchdowns in the last three.

Aidan Hutchinson joined in on the fun this year, too. Hutchinson earns his first AP All-Pro team nod, landing a second-team spot this season. Not too shabby for someone returning from a season-ending leg injury, and his return served as quite the response.

Hutchinson, who got his big extension this year, played every game and set a new career-best mark with 14.5 sacks and 35 quarterback hits. He also scored his second Pro Bowl appearance this year, as well. Since PFF started tracking pressures, there have been six players to reach the 100-pressure mark. Hutchinson is the only one on that list to have done it twice.

The pass rusher led the NFL in pressures created, finishing the campaign with a clear 100. The next closest player was Jacksonville’s Josh Hines-Allen, who had 95.

“The number of things that he’s able to do for us in the run and the pass game,” Dan Campbell said of Hutchinson earlier in the season. “Man, it takes up — he pulls a lot of slack, man. You talk about pulling your weight, he pulls his weight and then some. He requires a lot of resources offensively, which helps everybody else out. Guys like him, he’s in that rare world of man, you don’t get the easy way out. He’s got to beat the nudges, he’s got to beat the back chip, then the tackle’s on him. Or he’s got to beat the nudge, sometimes the back, the tackle, and the slide’s coming to him with the guard also.

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“So, sometimes you may have to beat three, sometimes four. But if that’s the case, somebody else is winning. They’ve got to win. So, what he does is not easy, and I go back to this. He is a complete football player; he does it all. And he’s disruptive, he’s violent, he’s high motor, he’s crafty, he’s explosive, he’s tough, he’s competitive. And he does it all. He does it all.”

For a full look at the AP’s All-Pro voting results, click here. Of note, longtime former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford earned the first All-Pro first-team nod of his career this year. Stafford remains in the MVP hunt, and this honor usually leads to that.



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Vigil, protest held for Renee Nicole Good at Detroit’s Clark park

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Vigil, protest held for Renee Nicole Good at Detroit’s Clark park


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The name Renee Nicole Good bounced off the buildings of southwest Detroit as hundreds marched on the evening of Friday, Jan. 9, following Good’s fatal shooting by an immigration agent in Minneapolis earlier in the week. 

A candlelight vigil was held at 6 p.m. at the city’s Clark Park in memory of Good, before attendees took off marching down Vernor Highway. 

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As of 7:30 p.m., the mass crowd had reached Cavalry Street, about half a mile away from the park, and turned, yelling “What do we want? Justice ” and calling for ICE’s ousting from communities.

Good, 37, was in her car when she was shot in the head on Wednesday, Jan.7, by a federal immigration officer in south Minneapolis. She leaves behind three children, ages 6, 12 and 15.

The shooting was recorded by witnesses and heightened political and community tensions over federal immigration enforcement as part of President Donald Trump’s nationwide immigration operations. The Trump administration has since said the shooting was done in self-defense, USA TODAY reports.

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Protests have occurred in cities across the U.S. since Good’s death, including gatherings in Michigan, and additional demonstrations are scheduled throughout the weekend.

This is a developing story.



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Debating Mike McDaniel’s fit for Detroit Lions OC job

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Debating Mike McDaniel’s fit for Detroit Lions OC job


But we also can’t ignore the drastic fall-off from the Dolphins’ offense. Partially because of injuries to Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill over the past two seasons, the Dolphins have finished 22nd and 25th in scoring offense in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Injuries can be used as an excuse, but the greatest coordinators find a way through the adversity.

Beyond that, there are questions about his philosophical and schematic fit. While the Lions have built their offenses on grit and physicality, McDaniel seems to favor speed and finesse. But maybe that’s exactly what the Lions need. Detroit has two speedy players in Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, who could probably be utilized more creatively, and it’s hard to imagine anyone better than McDaniel to do so.

McDaniel also has a very long coaching history with a lot of different coaching influences and schemes—including his closest coaching guru: Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers head coach has a scheme that is both more congruent with what the Lions do and much more adaptable.

On this EMERGENCY PODCAST, our crew debates the fit of McDaniel in Detroit, along with our thoughts on the Lions’ other known candidate: Commanders quarterbacks coach David Blough.

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Before that, Erik Schlitt, Ryan Mathews, and I discuss our biggest takeaways from Lions general manager Brad Holmes’ end-of-season press conference, including the future of David Montgomery, whether Holmes really took accountability for his mistakes, and our confidence in him moving forward.

You can catch our discussion in the embedded podcast below or on any podcasting platform you’d prefer. Just search “Pride of Detroit.”

You can also catch video of the show over on our YouTube pages. Here are the links:



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