Devils assistant coach Slava Fetisov has been waiting all season for this game. Just seven months ago, Fetisov was on the ice at Washington’s MCI Center, in his red Red Wings jersey, helping steer his dear, wheelchair-bound Russian comrade Vladimir Konstantinov around the ice with the Stanley Cup in his lap. Fetisov was front and center in Detroit’s second consecutive Cup celebration.

It would be Fetisov’s final act as a Red Wing. A month later, he retired as a player after a nine-year NHL stint. Then, the 40-year-old defenseman returned to his original team, the Devils, later that summer to serve as Robbie Ftorek’s assistant. Tonight, the Devils play host to the Red Wings at the Meadowlands in their first meeting of the season.

The Devils had their five-game winning streak snapped by, of all teams, the Nashville Predators, 3-2 in overtime on Saturday. It was a listless matinee effort against the expansionists, and one they can’t repeat against the two-time defending Cup champs.