The Red Wings aim to win four crucial divisional games over the Tampa Bay Lightning next season
The Red Wings will be battling this upcoming season to end their nine-year playoff drought and one of the biggest things they'll need to do to ensure that they make the postseason is win crucial games. The Atlantic Division is tougher than ever and with only three available spots plus a pair of wild card spots, they need to win these games.
One of their key divisional opponents is the Tampa Bay Lightning, who will be looking to claim a playoff spot for 11 of the past 12 years including four trips to the Stanley Cup Finals with a pair of championship wins. Despite their longstanding success, the Red Wings surprised the Bolts during their season series last year with a split after four games.
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Tampa Bay and Detroit have faced off 83 times with the Red Wings holding the upper hand historically with a 41-32-2-8 all-time record in the matchup. Detroit loves this matchup with a 11-7-2 record over their last 20 matchups.
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The Bolts will be returning with their league-best offence that features recent newcomers Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand plus adding the highly sought-after Pontus Holmberg from Toronto. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy and defenceman Victor Hedman help anchor the Lightning's fourth-best backend in the league.
Detroit has managed to grind out wins against Tampa by tightening up defensively and limiting their opponents’ scoring chances, something that should become more consistent with the addition of All-Star goaltender John Gibson. They’ve also bolstered their depth by bringing in forwards James van Riemsdyk and Mason Appleton, along with taking a low-risk chance on the blueline with former first-round pick Jacob Bernard-Docker.
The Red Wings are reportedly exploring several other moves as well, including the possibility of acquiring restricted free agents like Mason McTavish and giving some of their top prospects a shot at cracking the NHL roster.
The battles between the Red Wings and Steve Yzerman's former team will prove to be must-see once again with their first matchup of the 2025-26 season landing on October 17th at home. They will play host again on November 28th before traveling South to Tampa Bay on March 12th and April 13th.
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