Bruins at Red Wings: Gameday Updates, Line Combinations, Key Match-ups
Red Wings lines are status quo after the morning skate. No changes will be made. As far as the Bruins go, they had an optional skate this morning, so the lineup below is based of their practice yesterday. Any changes will be game time decisions tonight after warmups. However, Khan(!) did share this little nugget:
Jonas Gustavsson first goalie off ice, so he's likely starting vs. #redwings, but neither he or Julien would confirm.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) November 25, 2015 So it looks like my prediction of a Landon Ferraro hat trick and a Jonas Gustavsson shutout are still possible tonight at the Joe!
Line Combinations
Red Wings Lineup
Forwards
| Justin Abdelkader | Henrik Zetterberg | Dylan Larkin |
| Brad Richards | Pavel Datsyuk | Teemu Pulkkinen |
| Gus Nyquist | Riley Sheahan | Tomas Tatar |
| Drew Miller | Luke Glendening | Darren Helm |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Mike Green |
| Danny DeKeyser | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Brendan Smith | Alexey Marchenko |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek |
| Jimmy Howard |
Scratches: Tomas Jurco (learning from Dan Cleary in the AHL), Joakim Andersson, Jakub Kindl
Injuries: Kyle Quincey, Johan Franzen
Power-play units:
- Nyquist-Zetterberg-Abdelkader (net front), Tatar-Kronwall
- Pulkkinen-Datsyuk-Larkin (net front), Richards-Green
Bruins Lineup
Forwards
| Brad Marchand | Patrice Bergeron | Jimmy Hayes |
| Matt Beleskey | David Krejci | Loui Eriksson |
| Frank Vatrano | Ryan Spooner | Brett Connolly |
| Zac Rinaldo | Max Talbot | Landon Ferraro |
Defensemen
| Zdeno Chara | Zach Trotman |
| Dennis Seidenberg | Colin Miller |
| Torey Krug | Adam McQuaid |
Goaltenders
| Tuukka Rask |
| Jonas Gustavsson |
Fun Facts!
Red Wings all-time record against Boston: 253-239-95-2
Red Wings goals for per game (GF/G) against the Bruins: 2.99
Red Wings goals against per game (GA/G) against the Bruins: 3.01
Key Match-ups
Marchand/Bergeron/Hayes vs Abdelkader/Zetterberg/Larkin
Patrice Bergeron is not perfect (sorry Bruins fans), but he is the best two-way player in the world today. Boston won't have last change, but I'd bet a good amount of money Claude Julien is going to get Bergeron out on the ice against Dylan Larkin as much as possible. This could be a matchup of strength versus strength. Bergeron will try to shutdown Larkin, who has a goal in each of his last 4 games. Meanwhile, Henrik Zetterberg and Justin Abdelkader will have to keep an eye on Brad Marchand, who is also on a 4-game goal scoring streak except he has 5 total in his last 4 games. Let's just hope it's not Luke Glendening's job to shut down that Bruins line. The 4th line would get their faces caved in possession-wise.
Bruins Power Play vs Red Wings Penalty Kill
What was once a huge problem is now a huge strength for Boston. The Bruins power play is cruising along at 32.3%. Easily tops in the NHL (Dallas is 2nd at 26.9%). It's a scary good power play for the B's. The Wings PK is currently ranked 8th in the league (84.3%), so it's not like they're a dumpster fire, but they have to be in top form tonight. On the flip side, the Bruins PK is 3rd worst in the NHL. Specialty teams is crucial tonight.