NASHVILLE — The Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators will square off at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday afternoon, and Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde expects both clubs to play with a heightened intensity level and desperation mentality.

Detroit (1-3-0; 2 points) and Nashville (0-4-0; 0 points) will drop the puck at 2 p.m. ET/ 1 p.m. CT, with broadcast coverage on Bally Sports Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit).

“It’s just frustrating that we are where we are with our results,” Lalonde said. “I think there’s two teams that are going to be playing a very desperate, important game early on.”

The Red Wings embark on their first multi-game road trip of the season after dropping both ends of a two-game set with the New York Rangers this week. Detroit lost, 4-1, at Madison Square Garden on Monday before falling, 5-2, at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday.

Lalonde described Thursday’s setback to the Rangers as “a really frustrating, tough-to-evaluate night.”

“I’m not going to harp on underlying numbers, but we actually had a higher expected goals for, we had more chances for, slot shots were the same, Grade-As were similar,” Lalonde said. “We got crushed on special teams, and you do it to that team, they’ll humble you. A little bit of a message of not good enough. At the same time, it’s a two-game losing streak [that] just happens to be on the front end. We’ve done enough in our process to build off — we can’t let this slide — so this will be a real challenge for us [on Saturday].”

On Friday morning, the Red Wings recalled Marco Kasper from the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions. The move was in response to the potential unavailability of Tyler Motte, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and Andrew Copp, who took a maintenance day on Friday due to illness.

"The thing I like the most is how competitive [@DetroitRedWings forward prospect Marco Kasper is]. He uses his body really well. He’s a worker. I think it’s impressive to see." #LGRW #GoGRG | @griffinshockey https://t.co/lTDPQxQ0Ll

— Jonathan Mills (@JonathanDMillsy) October 18, 2024

Lalonde said Jeff Petry will return to the lineup on Saturday after missing the last two games with an upper-body injury. The 52-year-old head coach also announced goalie Alex Lyon will start against the Predators.

“Eleven [forwards] and seven [defensemen] is definitely in play,” Lalonde said. “Especially with the way our D are kind of playing out right now.”

Lyon said maintaining a steady mindset is crucial for Detroit as it navigates some early-season struggles.

“When you win, you can’t get too high,” Lyon said. “That’s just as important as not getting too low when you lose. You just have to focus on keeping a good work ethic and bringing your best every day, that’s really all you can do.”

Nashville is coming off a 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Filip Forsberg leads the Predators in points with four this season, while three players (Ryan O’Reilly, Jonathan Marchessault and captain Roman Josi) are tied for second in scoring with three points apiece.

Detroit blanked Nashville, 3-0, at Little Caesars Arena last Saturday.

“Talbs was great first time against Nashville,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “We battled and blocked shots, all the little things. Our details were better. They’ve lost four in a row, and they’re going to be gunning for us. We have to match that desperation.”