The Detroit Red Wings will win their season-opener Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens.
That’s according to NHL 26, which forecasted a 3–0 shutout to open the 2025–26 campaign. John Gibson backstopped the virtual Red Wings with a flawless 38-save performance in his debut with the club.
It was a true team effort: Michael Brandsegg-Nygård netted his first NHL goal, while Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond also lit the lamp. Patrick Kane, Travis Hamonic, Ben Chiarot, Dylan Larkin, J.T. Compher, and Marco Kasper each chipped in with an assist.
Sam Montembeault made 31 saves for Montreal.
First Period
The Red Wings as they killed an early penalty, something they notoriously struggled with last season. However, Montreal dictated the pace early, outshooting Detroit 11-2 in the first eight minutes of play.
Newly acquired Wing Mason Appleton wasted no time making his presence felt, barreling toward Montembeault for an early chance that was turned aside.
Detroit earned its first power play at 12:57 of the opening period when Lane Hutson was called for holding DeBrincat against the boards a little too long. DeBrincat nearly made the Canadiens pay, hammering a one-timer from the slot that Montembeault snagged with the glove. Despite some crisp puck movement, the Red Wings couldn’t find the back of the net on the man-advantage.
With just 15 seconds left in the frame, Brandsegg-Nygård etched his name on the scoresheet with his first NHL goal in a wild sequence. Montembeault initially stopped a wrist shot from Compher, but his clearing attempt went awry, landing right on Brandsegg-Nygård’s stick. The rookie wasted no time, ripping a wrister over the glove to give Detroit a 1–0 lead heading into intermission.
Second Period
Montreal’s Noah Dobson tried to spark some offense early in the second period with a booming slap shot from the point, but Emmitt Finnie sacrificed the body to block it with a full-extension dive. Meanwhile, newly acquired netminder Gibson—brought in from Anaheim over the summer—was locked in, flashing the leather repeatedly to keep the Canadiens off the board.
With about seven minutes remaining in the frame, Moritz Seider coughed up the puck in his own zone, gifting Zachary Bolduc a prime opportunity. Bolduc unloaded a blistering slap shot, but Gibson came through once again, snagging it clean with the glove to bail out his defenseman.
Detroit struggled to sustain offensive pressure in the latter stages of the period. DeBrincat and Kane attempted to create something in the Montreal zone, but a couple of misfired passes skipped out beyond the blue line, forcing the Red Wings to regroup and change lines.
Third Period
Chiarot uncorked a blistering one-timer from the blue line early in the third period, but Montembeault flashed the leather to keep it a one-goal game.
Moments later, DeBrincat made sure the next one counted. Stationed in the left circle, he hammered home a feed from Kasper threading it clean through Montembeault’s five-hole to double Detroit’s lead.
With under 10 minutes to play, Ivan Demidov jumped on a turnover and broke free, but Gibson held his ground, stoning him with a sharp blocker save to preserve the shutout bid.
Raymond then put the game on ice. After a slick neutral-zone rush, Larkin sliced through two defenders and sent a partially deflected pass toward Raymond, who battled past Bolduc, collected the puck in stride, and rifled a wrister over Montembeault’s glove. The insurance marker stretched the lead to 3–0 and effectively sealed the victory.
Takeaways
This would be fantastic. For the first time in quite a while, there are many Red Wings insiders who are genuinely excited about the new season. Hopefully this helps as well.
What’s Next
The Red Wings take on the Canadiens for real on Thursday against the Canadiens at Little Caesars Arena. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. local time.