The biggest news to come out of Detroit for tonight’s game is that Jared Coreau has been called up to be the insurance policy should anything go haywire with Mrazek tonight. The Wings have been playing so well lately that I have a hard time imagining this will be anything but a tightly run contest. Then again, this years’ Wings have been shown to change identities on a dime, so who knows.
Update: #RedWings have recalled Jared Coreau from the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. pic.twitter.com/NGnnAYVm9R
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 7, 2018
Any changes for the guys in blue will probably come game time. Louis Domingue will likely be making his debut with the Bolts this season after being demoted to the AHL by the Coyotes and then traded to Tampa. Surely Head Coach Jon Cooper will tinker with his lines after giving up a 6-3 loss last night in Ottawa, but words mum on them, so we are going to assume the same lines as last night.
Red Wings Line Up
Forward Lines
Nyquist – Zetterberg – Bertuzzi
Tatar – Larkin – Athanasiou
Helm – Nielsen – Abdelkader
Frk – Mantha
Defensive Pairings
Ericsson – Daley
DeKeyeser – Green
Kronwall – Jensen
Oullet
Goaltenders
Mrazek
Coreau
Lightning Line Up
Forward Lines
Nemetsnikov – Stamkos – Kucherov
Palat – Point – Johnson
Killorn – Gourde – Conacher
Kunitz – Paquette – Callahan
Defensive Pairings
Hedman – Dotchin
Sergachev – Stralman
Koekkoek – Girardi
Goaltenders
Domingue
Vasilevskiy
Three Keys to the Game
Exploit their Backup Goalie. Louie Domingue had a good season a few years back in the desert (guess I gotta be specific now and say Arizona to differentiate from Vegas.) However, since then he has struggled and had to spend time in the AHL to find his game again. The Wings need to give him a thorough welcome back to the best league in the world by getting on the puck early, getting it down low, and getting him moving laterally so he can’t get comfortable. It’s a tall order against the Lightning, but it can be exploited if the Red Wings’ faster forwards can get possession against Tampa bottom pair.
Keep Cool When Things Get Hot. The game is going to get chippy tonight. These two teams getting into dust ups with each other is totally commonplace. Detroit is an overall faster team than Tampa, but the Bolts are a heck of a lot better at holding onto the puck, which works to their advantage if the tempo of the game starts to get choppy by frequent penalties. The Wings would do well to stay out of the box and employ a hard forecheck to tire out the visitors, who will already be gassed because of their game last night.
Just Win. Man, I’m tired of losing to Tampa Bay. No more aw shucks, at least they’re Yzerman’s team. Tampa is tired and has lost five of six games on the tail end of back-to-backs this season. Make it six of seven. Do it beautifully, do it lucky, do it in a track race, win 1-0, I don’t care. The Wings’ situation will look and feel a lot better if they go into this week with a W rather than an L.
