• The Detroit Red Wings are preparing to face the Columbus Blue Jackets in an outdoor game at Ohio Stadium.
• The game is especially important for the Red Wings, as they are currently tied with the Blue Jackets in the NHL standings.
• Players are excited about the unique atmosphere of playing in an outdoor stadium, though some are anticipating challenges posed by the wind and cold.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dusk had fallen by the time the Detroit Red Wings took to the rink laid out inside the horseshoe that is Ohio Stadium, the ice gleaming in the fading sunlight.

“It was awesome,” Lucas Raymond said. “Just looking up, seeing the big stadium and all the seats — it’s going to be great.”

From above, the rink looked like an island, with wide spaces separating it from the stands that by the time Saturday’s game starts around 6:30 p.m. are expected to number around 90,000 spectators. The game took on a redemption angle for the Wings after their flat performance Thursday at home against the Blue Jackets, a team the Wings are neck-and-neck with in the NHL standings.

NIGHT LIGHTS: When you’re eating dinner Friday, Detroit Red Wings will be preparing for outdoor game

“That’s a great challenge for us to show up as a team and get right back in a spot where we want to be,” Moritz Seider said, “and get two crucial points against a team that’s tied with us right now.”

Friday evening’s practice — the Wings took the ice around 6:30 p.m. — served as a rehearsal, topped by a family skate that left everyone in a good mood. Take it from Dylan Larkin, former Michigan Wolverine, who described the scene on the ice.

“It was great,” he said. “There’s a lot of excitement with the guys. Pretty cool to just do something different. It’s probably the ugliest stadium I’ve ever been in, but it’s cool to play hockey outside. It’s always special to have the family skate out there, so it was really special.”

Goaltender Cam Talbot, who is slated to start, joked, “hopefully the wind works in my favor and slows the shots down a little bit, but I think that’s just wishful thinking.”

It was windy, and it’s supposed to be gusty from the north again Saturday evening.

“I’m sure the ice will be a little better with it being colder,” Patrick Kane said. “Tonight I noticed skating into the wind, and then the other way you have it at your back. I think that’s something that could come into play, where maybe they switch the teams and switch the sides with 10 minutes left in the period. We’ll see how it shakes out.”

Seider said the ice “felt great. Ice was really good, I thought, and we had good speed. It feels a little special because there’s nothing coming back — it’s a very hollow feeling overall.”

While Seider and Raymond are among those new to the experience, Talbot and Kane are at the other end, having played in at least seven each. That should be an advantage Saturday.

“For the players who have played in these, and I asked Patrick Kane — he has a pretty good idea of what to expect as far as conditions, starting with ice, boards, spatial awareness,” coach Todd McLellan said. “It doesn’t feel the same. The crowd is further away. For those who have played in them, it’ll come back quicker. For the new ones — I jumped on the ice with Alex Lyon and he was like a kid in a candy shop. ‘So cool,’ I think he said, ‘this is so cool.’ So some of the players were in awe a little bit. But once the puck drops, it’s hockey, just in a different environment.”

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.

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Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released October 2024. Her books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.