Update: Blashill told the media today that everyone is available, and lineup decisions will be made after the warmup. The one lineup decision he confirmed is Mrazek is starting.
Line Combinations
Forwards
|
Tomas Tatar |
Henrik Zetterberg |
Anthony Mantha |
|
Tomas Jurco |
Frans Nielsen |
Luke Glendening |
|
Gustav Nyquist |
Dylan Larkin |
Tomas Vanek |
|
Drew Miller |
Riley Sheahan |
Steve Ott |
Defensemen
|
Danny DeKeyser |
Mike Green |
|
Niklas Kronwall |
Xavier Ouellet |
|
Jonathan Ericsson |
Ryan Sproul |
Goaltenders
|
Petr Mrazek (starting) |
|
Jared Coreau |
Power Play units:
- Tatar-Zetterberg-Mantha, Kronwall-Sproul
- Nyquist-Nielsen-Vanek, Larkin-Green
Islanders Line Combinations
Forwards
|
Josh Bailey |
John Tavares |
Brock Nelson |
|
Andrew Ladd |
Ryan Strome |
Shane Prince |
|
Nikolay Kulemin |
Alan Quine |
Jason Chimera |
|
Anders Lee |
Casey Cizikas |
Cal Clutterbuck |
Defensemen
|
Nick Leddy |
Travis Hamonic |
|
Thomas Hickey |
Johnny Boychuk |
|
Calvin de Haan |
Dennis Seidenberg |
Goaltenders
|
Jaroslav Halak (starting) |
|
Thomas Greiss |
Power Play units:
- Bailey-Nelson-Lee, Tavares-Leddy
- Ladd-Quine-Strome, Hickey-Boychuk
Keys to the Game:
Start Fast, Finish Strong
The Islanders have taken 3-0 leads in the last two games they have played. The Red Wings played last night and expended a lot of energy chasing the Penguins around the ice. The start of this game is going to be very important for the Red Wings but it has been the finish that has been the Wings bugaboo this season. A fast start will be critical if they hope to get another shot at closing out a game.
Shoot, Shoot, Shoot
It gets said pretty much every game it feels like but the Wings have got to find ways to get pucks on the net consistently. Too often they are making the extra pass or holding the puck that extra second trying to find the easy tap in goal instead of shooting and because of that the Red Wings are last in the NHL in shots on goal per game. They are going to need to find ways to get more shots on net if they are going to find any consistency this season.
Control the Pace, Not Slow the Pace
This team continues to play its best hockey when they are skating and pushing the play up the ice. Sure, they are going to turn the puck over at times and give up some odd man rushes because of it but the alternative is worse. We saw it all night yesterday against Pittsburgh. The Red Wings simply have a hard time getting out of their own end passing the puck around and looking to set up a breakout instead of skating it out
