Jeff Blashill decided to shake things up with some new forward lines yesterday at practice. Today at the morning skate, we learned the new defensive pairs thanks to Niklas Kronwall’s injury.
The #RedWings D-pairings for tonight’s game vs @StLouisBlues appear to be Ericsson-Marchenko; Quincey-DeKeyser; and Smith-Green.
— The Wheel Deal (@Bill_Roose) January 20, 2016
I think this is the way to go. Quincey and DeKeyser are familiar with one another. Marchenko is solid defensively and can hopefully make Ericsson better. Meanwhile, Smith and Green have been paired together a lot lately. Keep the continuity there. Smith will take Kronwall’s place on the power play. This is great news.
Line Combinations
Red Wings Lineup
Forwards
| Gus Nyquist | Henrik Zetterberg | Justin Abdelkader |
| Dylan Larkin | Pavel Datsyuk | Tomas Tatar |
| Brad Richards | Riley Sheahan | Teemu Pulkkinen |
| Darren Helm | Luke Glendening | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Kyle Quincey | Danny DeKeyser |
| Brendan Smith | Mike Green |
| Jonathan Ericsson | Alexey Marchenko |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek |
| Jimmy Howard |
Scratches: Joakim Andersson
Injuries: Johan Franzen, Drew Miller, Niklas Kronwall
Power-play units:
- Nyquist-Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Abdelkader (net front)-Green
- Tatar-Pulkkinen-Larkin (net front)-Richards-Smith
Blues Lineup
Forwards
| Alex Steen | Paul Stastny | Troy Brouwer |
| Robby Fabbri | Jori Lehtera | Vladimir Tarasenko |
| Patrik Berglund | David Backus | Ty Rattie |
| Scottie Upshall | Kyle Brodziak | Ryan Reaves |
Defensemen
| Jay Bouwmeester | Alex Pietrangelo |
| Kevin Shattenkirk | Colton Parayko |
| Joel Edmundson | Andre Benoit |
Goaltenders
| Brian Elliott |
| Jordan Binnington |
Fun Facts!
Red Wings all-time record against St. Louis: 122-111-37-8 (W-L-T-OTL)
Red Wings goals for per game (GF/G) against the Blues: 3.22
Red Wings goals against per game (GA/G) against the Blues: 3.06
Key Matchups
Blues PP vs Red Wings PP
Entering tonight’s game, the Blues have the 8th ranked power play in the NHL. I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but Drew Miller is basically done for the season after surgery on his meniscus revealed some damage to his ACL. He’s out 4-6 months. Miller, regardless of what the advanced stats say, was a solid PKer for the Wings. They’re not doomed without him, but that was his key role on the team. It’ll be interesting how the team handles things tonight and moving forward. We should see a lot more Larkin on the PK (which I personally believe is a good thing). Speed kills.
Whomever gets matched up against Vladimir Tarasenko
Tarasenko is one of the premiere offense players in the league these days. He’s a top 5 goal scorer in the NHL and just outside the top 5 in points as well. The makeshift Wings defense will need to always be aware of where he’s at on the ice. I except the Nyquist-Zetterberg-Abdelkader line to get the duty of matching up against him. Shut down Tarasenko and the Wings should have a good chance to take two points tonight.
Let’s Go Red Wings.
