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DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings coach Todd McLellan doesn’t want to hear that teams often struggle to find their legs in their first game back after a West Coast trip. “I don’t buy that at all. That excuse is for losers,” McLellan said. “We never talk about it after a team plays really well when they come home from a road trip. We usually only talk about it after a crappy game, and we don’t plan on having a crappy game, so there’s no excuses.” The Red Wings (9-5-0) host the New York Rangers Friday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Extra), after finishing a 3-2 trip Tuesday with a 1-0 loss to Vegas. “The first thing we have to do is come home and get engaged,” McLellan said. “We’ve had some time to rest all day (Wednesday) and get the cobwebs out today. We did have some cobwebs early in practice, but I thought as practice went on, we were a little bit better. Now we come home to a good chunk of home games, and we have to perform well here and find ways to put points in the bank. As you see in the standings, there’s very little separation in our division and our conference. Everybody’s in it, and so you better keep your foot on the gas to keep going.” It’s the start of a four-game homestand and a stretch of 10-of-13 games at Little Caesars Arena. The Red Wings should get an offensive boost, perhaps as soon as Friday, with Patrick Kane’s return from an upper-body injury on Oct. 17. McLellan said the most encouraging aspect of the trip was the team’s resiliency. “It started at home, we’re down four and we find a way to come back (6-4 win over St. Louis,” McLellan said. “We get to St. Louis and we’re scored on real early. We stuck with it and played a pretty solid game. We go to Los Angeles, we play a solid game, and they get two quick ones at the end. And it would have been easy to be happy with a point, but we were resilient enough to overcome the call in overtime and get playing again (4-3 shootout win). “Bounced back after a game in Anaheim where we didn’t play as well (5-2 loss followed by 3-2 shootout win in San Jose). So, the resiliency, the mental drive for the group ended in Vegas. “I’ve been on teams where sometimes that game five or six of a road trip is … if it goes your way, great. If it doesn’t, then you’re done and you’re getting home. It’s just that demanding. And that wasn’t the case with us. Right to the last minute we left what we had out there. It wasn’t enough, but at least we had it.”
