Gameday Updates
Tonight’s player to watch. 👀 #LGRW pic.twitter.com/Dou6yIh3al
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 21, 2022
From Tuesday’s Red Wings practice: Derek Lalonde said Ville Husso starts Wednesday when Wings host Lightning. Jakub Vrana will not play Wednesday.
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) December 20, 2022
In addition, according to Ansar Khan’s tweet, Lalonde mentioned Vrana could spend some time in Grand Rapids on a conditioning stint before he returns to the Wings’ lineup.
Morning skate in Hockeytown.#LGRW pic.twitter.com/Csw9wV0mdQ
— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) December 21, 2022
Fast Stat:
11 of the past 13 games between the Lightning and the Red Wings in Detroit have been decided by 1 goal.
7 of the past 12 games in Detroit have been decided in overtime or in a shootout— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) December 21, 2022
Let’s celebrate a Real One’s birthday with a win tonight…
.@JoeKocur26 🥳🎂 pic.twitter.com/8k8LqNvCXF
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 21, 2022
Projected Lineups
Detroit Red Wings
FORWARDS
Michael Rasmussen – Dylan Larkin – David Perron
Adam Erne – Andrew Copp – Lucas Raymond
Dominik Kubalik – Pius Suter – Oskar Sundqvist
Elmer Soderblom – Joe Veleno – Jonatan Berggren
DEFENSE
Ben Chiarot – Moritz Seider
Jake Walman – Filip Hronek
Olli Maatta – Jordan Oesterle
GOALIES
Ville Husso
Alex Nedeljkovic
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning played last night, so this is just a guess based on the lines yesterday. Vasilevskiy played last night, so the safe bet would be on Elliott getting the nod in goal.
FORWARDS
Vlad Namestikov – Steven Stamkos – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Brayden Point
Ross Colton – Nick Paul – Alex Killorn
Patrick Maroon – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Corey Perry
DEFENSE
Victor Hedman – Nick Perbix
Mikhail Sergachev – Zach Bogosian
Ian Cole – Erik Cernak
GOALIES
Brian Elliott
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Keys to the Game
Do the Little Things Right
There’s much that goes into productive hockey than shooting the puck and preventing the other team from shooting aforementioned puck, and right now, the Red Wings aren’t doing many of those things right. Things like zone entries & exits, effective forechecking, and getting the puck out of the defensive zone to relieve pressure doomed Detroit in Monday’s loss to Washington. It’ll be a long night if Detroit can’t clean that up.
Don’t Forget the “Other Guys”
Tampa Bay has Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and a paaaaaarrrrrtridge in a peaaaaaarrrr treeeeee. They also happen to have a wealth of other players, namely Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul, who are having career years offensively thanks to increased roles this season. Like the Ovechkin situation the other night, the Red Wings can’t focus so much on the Tampa “big guns” that they allow other players to take over the game.
Take Your Chances When You Can Get Them
The Wings were outshot 46 to 26 in the last meeting between these two; that number includes 30(!!!) Tampa shots in the third period. Chances are the Lightning are going to get a bevy of chances in this game. So if you’re Detroit, the best course of action is to hold onto your butts, hope the goaltending keeps you close, and when you see your opening for an attack, GO FOR IT.
