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Red Wings get their first win, Brian Branch offers the Lions a boost, and the Pistons open preseason with a shrug
Oct 7, 2026
The Red Wings finally got on the board with a win over Ottawa, and Dylan Larkin’s night turned from boos to cheers. On the Lions side, Brian Branch’s possible return looks like a real lift for a battered secondary, while the Pistons’ preseason opener drew a very mixed reaction despite the comeback win.
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Winning fixes everything. Red Wings and Larkin, I'm looking at you
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Dustin Fiocco with Detroit Sports Nation. It is time for your daily rundown on this Wednesday
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And last night the Red Wings finally get their first win on the season
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They do so 5-3 over Ottawa. Also the first game played on the year for former captain Dylan Larkin
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As to be expected, he received some heavy boos when the game started
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But I say it all the time, winning, fixes, everything. A few minutes into that hockey game, Dylan Larkin scores a goal
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As a result, he gets cheered. Go figure. You do good things, you get cheered
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You win hockey games, you get cheered. You lose, you play poorly. That's when the boos come, especially with the way you handle this offseason
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two boots and I think this was a little bit of favoritism from the higher ups
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Dylan Larkin with a goal and an assist he was awarded the first overall star of
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that game the LCA crowd they cheered him on for that too I'd say 80% cheers
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maybe 20 boos also big game for Lucas Raymond three points for him Alex to bring it a couple of goals I think one of those guys could have probably got the first star
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But at the end of the day, it's all about winning that hockey game. That's exactly what the Red Wings did
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They beat Ottawa. Ottawa's first loss on the season. Red Wings' first win
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As a result, Larkin and company got cheered on home ice. I'm hoping more wins come
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But the Larkin drama continues. The Red Wing drama continues. at least we finally get a win on the season. Now let's talk about some positive news when it comes
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to our Lions. If you live under a rock, let me tell you this now, our defense is bad, specifically
1:47
our secondary, specifically the fact that we don't have any NFL caliber corners or safeties healthy
1:54
on this team. Well, finally, a bit of positive news in that regard, this coming with the fact that
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Brian Branch looks like he will be returning to practice sooner rather than later. We've got all
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the articles on the expected timeline, but it does seem like Brian Branch is going to come back to
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this team in the near future And you got to believe yes it just one player but finally having one capable body in this secondary is going to do wonders for this Lions defense You finally have an NFL starter that can play that role And make no mistake about it
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Brian Branch is a difference maker on that field. He's not just a capable body. He is a well above
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average body in his position. And we have been critically suffering without having anybody in
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that secondary. Brian Branch getting back to the secondary only is good news for the Lions. The
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pass rush is fine. Aiden Hutchinson's getting some pressures. Aleem McNeil, he had a very positive
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game against Carolina. So you get Brian Branch into the mix. I think this Lions defense looks
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better. It can't look any worse. I'm hoping it's a soon return. We've got the articles. Make sure
3:05
you check it out. But Brian Branch, he could be returning sooner rather than later. And I do want
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to talk about one more team. Let's talk about our Pistons who had their first preseason game of the
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year on Monday. Not a great first half, a much better second half, especially in that third
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quarter against Phoenix Pistons with a come from behind win to open up their preseason And I couldn care less Was it fun to see Sure why not I don mind But it preseason basketball Didn put any stock in the NHL preseason when it came to the Red Wings Didn
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put any stock into the Lions preseason games. I'm not a preseason kind of guy. For me, I'll start
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judging when I see game one take place on the court for the Pistons in a few weeks. But it was
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fun to see basketball back at LCA. It was fun back to seeing the Pistons on the court, what we can
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expect out of this team. I don't think the preseason is going to tell us much as to what that will
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translate into the regular season, but we did get basketball back for the Pistons and they started
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off their preseason with a win over the Suns. Those are my thoughts on all of our hot topic
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stories going on with our sports teams right now. Guys, make sure you're always liking, sharing
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commenting and subscribing to our newsletter that is so simple to do just drop in your email
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that's the only info it doesn't cost you anything but just taking that time to drop your email in
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only information we need from you to get you all of your Detroit sports news
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so once more it's been your daily rundown I'm Dustin Fiocco and this is Detroit Sports Nation
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