/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58191779/usa_today_10387589.0.jpg)
Ready for a shock in the starter’s net? TOO BAD!
#RedWings Howard in starter's net in morning skate before tonight's game vs #Senators at Little Caesars Arena. pic.twitter.com/XAILiHxG2L
— Dana Wakiji (@Dwakiji) January 3, 2018
Interesting tidbit here on the power play though. Guess it’s too much to ask they BOTH get to play net-front and Abdelkader perhaps does something else?
Both #RedWings Mantha and Bertuzzi taking a turn as net-front presence on second power play unit.
— Dana Wakiji (@Dwakiji) January 3, 2018
The good news is that all indications are Mantha is good to go after sitting the last two games with his “nagging injury.”
Mantha said he’s good to go tonight. It looks like they’ll go 11 and 7 again, keeping Ouellet in and sitting Booth, though not for sure. #RedWings
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 3, 2018
Projected Lineups
Detroit Red Wings
Gustav Nyquist - Henrik Zetterberg - Tyler Bertuzzi
Tomas Tatar - Dylan Larkin - Anthony Mantha
Darren Helm - Frans Nielsen - Justin Abdelkader
Martin Frk - Andreas Athanasiou
Jonathan Ericsson - Trevor Daley
Danny DeKeyser - Mike Green
Niklas Kronwall - Nick Jensen
Xavier Ouellet
Jimmy Howard
Petr Mrazek
Ottawa Senators
Ryan Dzingel - Derick Brassard - Mark Stone
Mike Hoffman - Matt Duchene - Bobby Ryan
Tom Pyatt - Filip Chlapik - Jean-Gabriel Pageau
Gabriel Dumont - Nate Thompson - Alexandre Burrows
Johnny Oduya - Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf - Cody Ceci
Fredrik Claesson - Thomas Chabot
Craig Anderson
Mike Condon
Keys to the Game
Hard work and stupidity
Mark Stone did not mince words, he described the Sens woes as not caused by poor work ethic but rather by “stupidity and frustration” as they put themselves in terrible situations and cough up goals. We’ve heard things like that about the Wings, but we have the pleasure of also having our kids dumped on for attitude/hustle/heart/grit.
Desperation as motivation
The Sens weren’t supposed to be this bad, but they weren’t really supposed to be as good as they were last season either. They are desperate to turn things around and get a win anywhere and anyway they can, and they can’t really get much worse, so we have to be sure not to do that thing where we nap through the second period. The Wings, at least in public, haven’t given up on their playoff dream for this season but our March schedule should put us out of our misery if we are still hanging around the bubble.
But for tonight, let’s show Future Red Wing Erik Karlsson why he would have fun playing on our team.
Anthony Mantha Strikes Back feat. Dylan Larkin
Mantha was practicing on a line with Larkin and Tatar which could be really, really great. Larkin is getting really good at playing setup man, while still taking his own shots too, so be looking for him to spark Mantha back to his nonstop goal scoring ways. I’ve got a feeling Tatar is ready to break out soon, so this line may crush the Sens on their own.
Loading comments...