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Time: 7:30pm ET
Place: Little Caesar’s Arena
TV: FSD, SN, TVAS
Radio: 97.1 FM The Ticket, 1270 AM, Sportsnet 960 AM
Flames Blog: Matchsticks and Gasoline
The Breakdown
The Red Wings (8-8-2) will look to bounce back from a 2-1 shootout loss at the hands of the Blue Jackets on Saturday. The club returned home from a strong Western Canada road trip in which they won two of their three games, but they certainly didn’t have an answer in solving Sergei Bobrovsky. The Flames (10-7-0) come to town, starting a gruelling road trip that will see them play six games in eight nights. The Wings have sputtered offensively this season averaging just 2.61 GF/GP (26th in NHL), but they will look to build on that output against a Flames team allowing 2.94 GA/GP (T-17th in NHL).
Anthony Mantha has been a bright spot for the Wings this season, leading the team in goals (8) and points (16) in 18 games — he managed a goal and two assists in a 6-3 loss to the Flames on Nov. 9. The pedestrian Wings blue line will certainly have their hands full as they try to slow down Johnny Gaudreau. “Johnny Hockey” leads the Flames with 24 points in 17 games this season and has been red hot in his last five games with four goals and nine points in that stretch.
Injuries
Danny DeKeyser (ankle) returned to practice on Monday, but is likely a few days away and is hopeful he can return this weekend to the lineup — he’s been out since Oct. 10 and they could use him. Justin Abdelkader (face) should be good to go on Wednesday night after missing Saturday’s game with a fractured cheekbone — it remains to be seen if the juggler, Jeff Blashill, will find a spot for him in that top six. Martin Frk (groin) has been ruled out Wednesday night and Blashill was unsure when he would return to the lineup. Darren Helm (undisclosed) missed Tuesday’s practice and has been ruled questionable for Wednesday. The Wings could be thin against the Flames and we will keep you updated following the morning skate...
Projected Lineups
Red Wings Lineup
Anthony Mantha — Henrik Zetterberg — Gustav Nyquist
Tomas Tatar — Dylan Larkin — Andreas Athanasiou
Justin Abdelkader — Frans Nielsen — Darren Helm
David Booth — Luke Glendening — Scott Wilson
Jonathan Ericsson (Why?) — Trevor Daley
Xavier Ouellet — Mike Green
Niklas Kronwall — Nick Jensen
Jimmy Howard
Petr Mrazek
Flames Lineup
Johnny Gaudreau — Sean Monahan — Michael Ferland
Matthew Tkachuk — Mikael Backlund — Michael Frolik
Sam Bennett — Mark Jankowski — Jaromir Jagr
Kris Versteeg — Curtis Lazar — Troy Brouwer
Mark Giordano — Dougie Hamilton
T.J. Brodie — Travis Hamonic
Brett Kulak — Michael Stone
Mike Smith
Eddie Lack
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Game Day Prediction Contest
Would you like to predict the outcome of the game and potentially become internet famous? Well you're in luck, because here's your opportunity. Here's how it works.
First off, if you don't have an SBN Username, make one! We'd love to have you, plus it's much easier to track your predictions season-long. Then make your guess on the winning team, final score, and who the Red Wings player of the game will be. Enter the required information into the form below using the formats indicated. If you don't use those formats, your answers will be disregarded. All submissions are timestamped and will be accepted only until the official game start time. Only one submission per person, please. The Red Wings POTG will be determined by the collective of WiiM writers.
Each correct winning team prediction is worth 1 point. Each correct player of the game prediction is worth 3 points. Each correct final score prediction is worth 5 points. If you get all three correct, you'll receive 15 points.
Good luck!