Michal Postava’s first NHL start will come with the added challenge of facing the league’s hottest scorers.
Coach Todd McLellan announced this morning that Postava will be in the net tonight when the Red Wings complete their four-game road trip with a 9:30 p.m. game against the Edmonton Oilers, coached by former Detroit coach Mike Babcock.
Red Wings lines tonight: projected lineup and starting goalie →
The Oilers (8-2-1) have the NHL’s fourth-best record. They also lead the league with a scoring average of 4.36 goals per game.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have been dominant this season, piling up several multiple-point games. McDavid boasts 15 points in his past four games, while Draisaitl boasts 12 goals in 11 games.
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Postava made his NHL debut this past week when he played the third period of a 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks. He replaced John Gibson who had to leave the game because he had something in his eye.
Postava gave up one goal on eight shots.
The 24-year-old Czech netminder was called up last week when Daniil Tarasov suffered an injury in practice. At the time of the call-up, Postava was 4-0 with Grand Rapids with a 1.25 goals-against average and .954 save percentage.
The Red Wings were comfortable trading prospect goalie Sebastian Cossa at the 2026 draft because Postava has been highly impressive in the AHL.
Postava’s two NHL appearances are important also for the Red Wings image. They were criticized this summer for not giving their prospects opportunities at the NHL level.
Cossa was drafted in the first round in 2021 and only played 45 minutes in an NHL game before the Red Wings traded him to Utah.
Interim GM Shawn Horcoff seems more inclined to see prospects play at the NHL level to get a better read on them.
By Kevin Allen
Kevin has written professionally for almost 50 years. He was USA TODAY's lead hockey writer from 1986 to 2019.
