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8:00p ET, Little Caesars Arena
Detroit, MI
TV: NBCSN
Radio: 97.1 FM The Ticket // 1270 AM CBS Sports Radio
Bruins Blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder
This season continues to be a real test for both the Red Wings organization and its fanbase. Over the course of the last 4 games they played about the absolute worst I have even seen them play losing 10-1 to Montreal. Following that debacle the picked up their play and laid a whooping on a very good Winnipeg Jets team 5-1 before running into an awful bout of cannot-find-the-back-of-the-net-despite-a-boatload-of-chances-it is the last two games. A franchise that once was the shining example of consistency in the NHL has become one of its maddeningly inconsistent and now finds itself quickly tumbling down the standings and out of the still early playoff picture. Here is hoping the Red Wings can figure out what voodoo hex Winnipeg put on them after the game and get it removed in time for tonight’s match up with the Boston Bruins.
Boston comes into the game tonight with 32 points, four ahead of the Red Wings. That is good enough for third place and last automatic playoff spot in the somewhat weak Atlantic Division. The Bruins are every bit as offensively anemic as the Red Wings have been so far, scoring only 78 goals on the season. They are led up front by the names you would expect. David Pastranak leads the team with 14 goals and 27 points. Perennial pain in the rear Brad Marchand has 11 goals and 23 points on the season. No players beyond those two have more than six goals and Patrice Bergeron is the only other forward with double digits assists. This is the epitome of a one-line offense. Defensively they are much better however and that is the main reason they are currently in third. Beyond the excellent two way play they get from their forwards, Boston has some promising defensemen as well in Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo to go along with the ultimate hockey odd couple in Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug. Of course, no talk about the Bruins would be complete without talking about enigmatic Tukka Rask in net. He and backup Anton Khudobin have been exceptional in net as combined they have given up two more goals than Jimmy Howard himself has all season.
Two teams struggling to score, one with a very good defense and the other with an defense in the literal sense. This is one of those games where a lot can be learned about a team which could likely be the case tonight…or not. Trying to predict if the team will show up on time and if they performed the proper rituals before the game to garner the favor of the hockey gods is beyond me at this point.
Predicted Lineups
DETROIT RED WINGS
Gustav Nyquist – Henrik Zetterberg – Justin Abdelkader
Tomas Tatar – Dylan Larkin – Anthony Mantha
Darren Helm – Frans Nielsen – Luke Glendening
Luke Witkowski– Andreas Athanasiou – Martin Frk
Danny DeKeyser – Mike Green
Jonathan Ericsson – Trevor Daley
Niklas Kronwall – Nick Jensen
Jimmy Howard
Petr Mrazek
Scratches: Xavier Ouellet, David Booth
Injuries: Johan Franzen (LTIR)
BOSTON BRUINS
Brad Marchand – Patice Bergeron – David Pastranak
Jake Debrusk – David Krejci – Anders Bjork
Danton Heinen – Riley Nash – David Backes
Tim Schaller – Sean Kuraly – Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara – Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug – Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk – Paul Postma
Tukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Injuries: Adam McQuiad, Ryan Spooner, Peter Cehlarik
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!