The Red Wings are back in their home sweaters after completing a three-game road trek — their first stretch of regular-season action since returning from the NHL’s Olympic break — at 2-1-0, ending with a 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Monday afternoon.
“Overall, I think it was a good road trip,” Sandin-Pellikka said. “Even though we struggled a little bit against Carolina [on Saturday], I still think we played a good game there. We had chances and could’ve won that game. Other than that, we played strong against Nashville. We held them back and scored some goals, so we have a good feeling right now.”
Ahead of Wednesday’s game, Detroit recalled goaltender Sebastian Cossa from the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions. The 23-year-old prospect took part in Wednesday’s morning skate and, according to head coach Todd McLellan, will serve as the backup to Cam Talbot against Vegas.
“John Gibson did skate today,” McLellan said of the 32-year-old netminder, who sustained an upper-body injury in the first period of Monday’s matinee in Nashville. “He’s feeling much better than he did the other day, but not quite ready to go in this game.”
Owning a stellar 24-4-3 record to go along with a 1.99 goals-against average and .927 save percentage as well as five shutouts in 31 AHL games this season, Cossa said he’s ready to fill whatever role Detroit might need him to fill.
“Just worry about the controllables and doing what I can,” Cossa said. “Winning a lot of hockey games down there, that’s the most important thing that I’ve been focusing on.”
