The first handful of minutes couldn't have been much worse: Boos, albeit expectedly, for a hometown playe at his own team's rink, ire directed at the owner, a video board error and two pucks in the Detroit Red Wings' own net.
Then the Wings settled down and set to work to turn things in their favor as they opened the 2026-27 season before a vocal crowd at Little Caesars Arena on Friday, Oct. 2. The New York Rangers, who had played at home the night before and were in their third game in four nights, took an early lead, but the Wings battled hard to make a dent in the score.
Even with their net empty with more than two minutes to go in regulation and an extra attacker on the ice, the Wings were stymied; instead, Eeli Tolvanen put the final touch
on a 2-0 victory for the Rangers with an empty-net goal with 1:16 on the clock.
Rough start
Fans booed when Dylan Larkin was introduced while standing on the bench in his first appearance at a game since requesting a trade shortly after last season ended. He responded with a brief wave. Fans made their feelings heard again during a spell in the first period, chanting, "Sell the team!" at owner Christopher Ilitch.
Then Sean Durzi made it 1-0 during a Rangers power play just 5:12 in. The Wings were outshot, 6-0, before the game was six minutes old.
There was also a technical error when the video board at center ice showed a penalty had been assessed to Michal Postava (who is with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL). While that was happening, Durzi put the puck on John Gibson again, with Oliver Bjorkstrand deflecting it past him. But the Wings successfully challenged Tolvanen preceded the puck into the offensive zone and was offsides prior to the goal.
So close
Defensman Anton Johansson, making his NHL debut, appeared close to scoring minutes later. Fans cheered, believing his shot went in the net, but play continued and replays showed the puck hit backup goalie Dylan Garand and dropped to the blue paint, where he was able to corral it and play it to a teammate.
Who made the lineup
Larkin (upper body injury, on injury reserve retroactive to Aug. 15) was unavailable, and Carter Mazur was a healthy scratch. The lines ended up being Andrew Copp centering Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond; J.T. Compher centering Emmitt Finnie and Viktor Arvidsson; Marco Kasper centering Michael Rasmussen and Keegan Kolesar, and Nate Danielson centering Mason Appleton and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård.
On defense, Simon Edvinsson (who still needs a new contract) was unavailable, and Jacob Bernard-Docker wad on injured reserve. The pairs were: Moritz Seider with Albert Johansson, Ben Chiarot with Axel Sandin-Pellikka, and Johansson with trade deadline pickup Justin Faulk.
Next up: Jets
The Wings continue a homestand that features seven of their first eight games with a visit from the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday (1 p.m., Detroit SportsNet). In previous years, it would have meant a visit from Commerce's own Connor Hellebuyck, the hero of Team USA's gold-medal win in February's Winter Olympics. But Hellebuyck, like his Olympic teammate Larkin, requested a trade during the offseason and has not reported for duty yet.
Contact Helene St. James at Hstjames@freepress.com.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Boos to open and no goals for Red Wings in opening loss to Rangers
