It was an optional skate this morning for the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard gets the start and Jonathan Ericsson is still out. No Xavier Ouellet or Tomas Nosek unless things change between now and puck drop.
Ericsson (shoulder) out again. Day to day. Same 18 skaters as Nosek and Ouellet scratched.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 22, 2015
According to the New Jersey diggers, Patrick Elias thinks he’s playing, but the team says he isn’t. So that’s someone to keep an eye on as we get closer to game time.
Line Combinations
Red Wings Lineup
Forwards
| Dylan Larkin | Henrik Zetterberg | Justin Abdelkader |
| Brad Richards | Pavel Datsyuk | Darren Helm |
| Gus Nyquist | Riley Sheahan | Tomas Tatar |
| Joakim Andersson | Luke Glendening | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Danny DeKeyser |
| Brendan Smith | Mike Green |
| Jakub Kindl | Alexey Marchenko |
Goaltenders
| Jimmy Howard |
| Petr Mrazek |
Scratches: Tomas Nosek, Xavier Ouellet
Injuries: Kyle Quincey, Johan Franzen, Drew Miller, Teemu Pulkkinen, Jonathan Ericsson
Power-play units:
- Larkin-Zetterberg-Nyquist, Abdelkader (net front), Kronwal
- Tatar-Datsyuk-Sheahan (net front), Richards-Green
Devils Lineup
Forwards
| Mike Cammalleri | Adam Henrique | Lee Stempniak |
| Jiri Tlusty | Travis Zajac | Kyle Palmieri |
| Sergey Kalinin | Jacob Josefson | Tyler Kennedy |
| Tuomo Ruutu | Stephen Gionta | Jordin Tootoo |
Defensemen
| Andy Greene | Adam Larsson |
| John Moore | Damon Severson |
| Eric Gelinas | David Schlemko |
Goaltenders
| Cory Schneider |
| Keith Kinkaid |
Fun Facts!
Red Wings all-time record against New Jersey: 45-36-11-2
Red Wings goals for per game (GF/G) against the Devils: 3.37
Red Wings goals against per game (GA/G) against the Devils: 3.17
Key Matchups
Red Wings centers vs Devils centers vs linesmen
If I learned anything, it’s that faceoffs are key to everything. If you win a faceoff, it helps your possession stats because you have the puck and they don’t. It’s key on special teams because if you win a faceoff on the power play and you have the puck, you’re more likely to score because you can shoot the puck or pass it around to your teammates and then maybe they shoot and score. On the PK, if you win the faceoff and you have the puck, you can clear it out of the zone and down the ice to prevent the other team from scoring. This all happens from winning a faceoff.
Red Wings vs Devils Forechecking
Watching video of New Jersey for tonight’s keys of the game…they have a very interesting concept when forechecking
— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) December 22, 2015
If the Devils dump the puck in or turn it over in the O-Zone, they are very aggressive in a 1-2-2 forecheck. pic.twitter.com/JNnZpsJTFP
— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) December 22, 2015
You can see 2 below the faceoff dots, 3 below the faceoff dots. A lot of pressure, especially on the Glendening line + Marchenko-Smith
— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) December 22, 2015
But when the Devils dump and then change, they drop into this passive 1-2-2 where the top forechecker is in NZ pic.twitter.com/2fqz02tiK2
— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) December 22, 2015
It’s as if they are trying a NZ trap to force an icing, which happened here. It prevents the defensemen that started the rush from changing
— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) December 22, 2015
If the Devils do this, the #RedWings should be aware and just sub out the defender so they complete the change before the rush
— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) December 22, 2015
The other option is to move the puck before NJ can complete the full change. This prevents them from clogging the NZ
— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) December 22, 2015
Let’s Go Red Wings.
