from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

They take on the Boston Bruins in a Sunday matinee at Little Caesars Arena, a chance to start off 2022 with a victory over a division rival. The Wings (15-14-3) dropped their New Year's Eve game against the Washington Capitals, 3-1, shaking off rust after a two-week pandemic-induced layoff. It was a 1-1 game until three minutes left, and overall the Wings were encouraged that, with everyone but defenseman Nick Leddy out of quarantine (he won't be available Sunday either), the lineup was close to what they had at the start of the season.

"Hopefully, knock on wood, we can keep this group together for a bit here and barring illness or injury, we can get kind of that chemistry, kind of get in a groove with this group," coach Jeff Blashill said Saturday. "It’ll certainly be good to have Leds back as well, but you’re not going to have a full lineup all year. And obviously we’ve been missing one guy all season in (Jakub) Vrana. But it was good to get the group back together."

The group included Joe Veleno — who seems to have established he belongs in Detroit, not the minors — but Givani Smith was a healthy scratch, indicating his struggle to become a regular contributor.

Part of Saturday's practice was used to stress discipline. Rookie defenseman Moritz Seider had a phenomenal shift midway through the third period when he dropped Garnet Hathaway and, when Nic Dowd came for a retaliatory hit, Seider dropped him, too. But the Capitals ganging up on him in a melee led to officials calling an offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Seider, and Blashill said he would rather have seen Seider skate to the bench than engage in the donnybrook.

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