Morning Skate: Red Wings at Islanders Preview

7:00p ET, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Uniondale, NY

TV: Fox Sports Detroit

Radio: 97.1 The Ticket

Islanders Blog: Lighthouse Hockey

The Red Wings have lost seven consecutive games on home ice.

Good thing tonight's game is on the road!

Oh wait… What's that you say?… The Red Wings are winless against the Islanders since 2008? And they lost 5-1 the last time they played? And the time before that they lost in OT? And the time before that they lost 6-0? And the time before that they lost 2-0?

Sh*t.

This is going to be a fun.

The Expected Lineup

Forwards

Henrik Zetterberg	Pavel Datsyuk	Todd Bertuzzi
Johan Franzen	Darren Helm	Tomas Tatar
Daniel Cleary	Joakim Andersson	Mikael Samuelsson
Drew Miller	Luke Glendening	Justin Abdelkader

Defensemen

Niklas Kronwall	Jonathan Ericsson
Kyle Quincey	Danny DeKeyser
Brian Lashoff	Jakub Kindl

Goaltenders

Jonas Gustavsson (starting)

Jimmy Howard

Scratches: Daniel Alfredsson (groin)

NOTE: Alfredsson could play. Glendening would then be scratched.

Injuries: Brendan Smith (shoulder), Stephen Weiss (groin)

RED WINGS	THE MATCH-UP	ISLANDERS
9-5-6 (23 pts; 3rd in Atlantic)	Record	7-10-3 (17 pts; 6th in Metro)
2.50 (20th in NHL)	Goals Per Game	2.70 (14th in NHL)
2.60 (16th)	Goals Against Per Game	3.10 (26th)
20.3% (11th)	Power Play %	19.1% (14th)
86.3% (6th)	Penalty Kill %	73.4% (30th)
Henrik Zetterberg (10 goals)	Goal Leader	Frans Nielsen (9 goals)
Henrik Zetterberg (21 points)	Points Leader	John Tavares (23 points)

Opponent Outlook

Player to Fear: John Tavares. He's good. Real good. He had a hip issue the other night, but played on Thursday. As far as I know, I would assume he goes tonight too.

X-Factor: Thomas Vanek has missed the last three games due to injury. If he plays, he definitely changes the complexity of this game.

Familiar Faces: The Wings signed Evgeni Nabokov a few years back to be their back up netminder in the middle of the season. The Islanders claimed him on re-entry waivers (he was playing overseas). That counts as a familiar face.

Thumbs up (One Thing to Like About Long Island): It's not New Jersey.

Thumbs down (One Thing to Dislike About Long Island): Their third jerseys are stupid.

Bullets of Knowledge

• The Red Wings are 46-44-6-1 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time against the Islanders.

• Last 10 games: NY Islanders 3-7-0. Detroit 3-2-5.

• The Wings are currently 2-2-2 on Saturdays.

• Gustavsson is 2-1-1 with a 1.72 GAA, .929 SV% with one shutout in 4 career starts against the Islanders.

Prediction: Red Wings lose 3-2 in extra time. Abdelkader is your player of the game.