Avalanche at Red Wings: Gameday Updates, Line Combinations, Key Matchups
We've got the Wings/Avs Stadium Series preview show tonight in the Motor City; a rivalry so hot that the Wings are offering student and military rush tickets to see if they can fill the Joe on Friday night for an opponent that nobody cares about anymore.
Colorado played last night in Ottawa, beating the Phlying Phaneufs phour to three. We should probably thank them for that. But who cares about them, let's get to the important stuff!
Danny DeKeyser, who left game in third Wednesday after taking shot to right leg from Phaneuf, appears fine this morning.
— The Wheel Deal (@Bill_Roose) February 12, 2016
Hooray!
DeKeyser staking. Mrazek in the starter's net. Green skating like he's ready, paired with Smith.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) February 12, 2016
Must be some vampires out there. Thanks for looking out, DK.
Line Combinations
Red Wings Lineup
Forwards
| Henrik Zetterberg | Pavel Datsyuk | Justin Abdelkader |
| Tomas Tatar | Dylan Larkin | Brad Richards |
| Gus Nyquist | Andreas Athanasiou | Tomas Jurco |
| Darren Helm | Riley Sheahan | Luke Glendening |
Defensemen
| Kyle Quincey | Danny DeKeyser |
| Brendan Smith | Mike Green |
| Jonathan Ericsson | Alexey Marchenko |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek |
| Jimmy Howard |
Scratches: Teemu Pulkkinen, Jakub Kindl
Injuries: Johan Franzen, Drew Miller, Niklas Kronwall
Power-play units:
- Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Abdelkader (net front)-Richards-Smith
- Nyquist-Larkin-Tatar-Helm (net front)-Green
Avalanche Lineup
Forwards
| Gabriel Landeskog | Carl Soderberg | Blake Comeau |
| Alex Tanguay | Nathan MacKinnon | Cody McLeod |
| Mikhail Grigorenko | John Mitchell | Matt Duchene |
| Andreas Martinsen | Chris Wagner | Jarome Iginla |
Defensemen
| Francois Beauchemin | Erik Johnson |
| Nick Holden | Tyson Barrie |
| Chris Bigras | Andrew Bodnarchuk |
Goaltenders
| Calvin Pickard |
| Semyon Varlamov |
Fun Facts!
I swear those Avs lines came from Mile High Hockey and I'm not making shit up about Cody McLeod being a winger for Nathan MacKinnon.
Lava is extremely hot
Petr Mrazek's lifetime save percentage against Colorado is .980
Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell
Key Matchups
Energy vs. Energy
The Avs are playing the second of back-to-back while the Wings have been going every other day and have games on Sunday and Monday to worry about. It would be nice to see the Wings jump all over the Avs early and then get to coast to a victory. Unfortunately, that's a rare condition anywhere in the NHL anymore (just look at the Sharks coming back against the Flames last night).
Detroit vs. Their own Discipline
Not all of the hundreds of penalty calls against Detroit lately have been good calls, but I counted six out of the seven penalties they took against Ottawa as stupid things for a player to do rather than a screw-job by the refs. The Wings have to be more disciplined.
Let's Go Red Wings.