The Wings called up Brian Lashoff and Tomas Nosek to be the 13th forward and 7th defenseman as the team struggles through injuries looking forward to back-to-back games this weekend. Neither is expected to play tonight, but would be ready to go on the road if need be.
However, it looks like Jared Coreau will get his first NHL start tonight. He will face off against Marc-Andre Fleury at the other end.
Red Wings Expected Lineup
Forwards
Tomas Tatar |
Henrik Zetterberg |
Anthony Mantha |
Tomas Jurco |
Frans Nielsen |
Luke Glendening |
Gustav Nyquist |
Dylan Larkin |
Thomas Vanek |
Drew Miller |
Riley Sheahan |
Steve Ott |
Defense
Danny DeKeyser |
Mike Green |
Niklas Kronwall |
Xavier Ouellet |
Jonathan Ericsson |
Ryan Sproul |
Goaltenders
Jared Coreau (Starting) |
Petr Mrazek |
Penguins Expected Lineup
Forwards
Conor Sheary |
Sidney Crosby |
Patric Hornqvist |
Carl Hagelin |
Evgeni Malkin |
Bryan Rust |
Scott Wilson |
Nick Bonino |
Phil Kessel |
Tom Kuhnhackl |
Matt Cullen |
Eric Fehr |
Defense
Olli Maatta |
Kris Letang |
Brian Dumoulin |
Trevor Daley |
Ian Cole |
Justin Schultz |
Goaltenders
Marc-Andre Fleury |
Matt Murray |
Key Matchups
Wings Power Play
The struggles of the Detroit power play have been well documented. They come into the game only converting on 15% of their man advantage opportunities. However, the Penguins penalty kill is one of the worst in the league, managing to stop the advantage only 78% of the time. The Wings power play has looked better in recent games with the additions of Thomas Vanek and Anthony Mantha. A successful power play or two would go a long way in helping the Wings earn some points on the road.
Contain Crosby
Ha what a genius idea. Crosby has 16 goals in 18 games. The Penguins have scoring depth with Malkin and Kessel in the lineup, but it seems like the offense goes with Crosby. “Pittsburgh has a 106-6-1 record in regular-season games in which Crosby produced at least three points, and the Penguins are 52-1-0 in his last 53 such games” according to Elias Sports Bureau. So keeping Crosby off the score sheet is integral to beating Pittsburg, and he is playing very well right now so it will be quite the challenge.
