With both teams having played last night, we’re not going ot get line rushes prior to warmups, but we’ve got a trickle of things so far. The big thing is that Bobby Ryan was injured last night:
Don’t expect Ryan to play tonight which means Dzingel goes back in. No coach until 4:30 PM #Sens
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) April 4, 2017
Nobody has hinted yet what this would do to Ottawa’s lines, but it’ll keep Colin White in the lineup at least.
Unless we hear otherwise, we’re going to go with the same Wings lines/combos that the official account tweeted out last night. Just switch up the starter from Petr to Jimmy and commit this one to memory:
Tonight’s projected lines. #OTTvsDET #LGRW pic.twitter.com/lM9sCYc2bU
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) April 3, 2017
Key Matchups
Erik Karlsson vs. Eugene Melnyk
The Senators owner has already been outspoken about non-business reasons to keep NHL players out of the Olympics and Erik Karlsson has already been outspoken about thinking NHLers not going is stupid. Karlsson still has two more years after this one before he’s a free agent, but all I’m saying is that we’ve had disgruntled ex-Senators around here before and it’s worked out pretty well. I’m a patient person, but Karlsson demanding a trade would be fun to watch too.
Youth Development vs. Veteran Trade Value
Hoping to see Svechnikov score a hat trick while the Wings give up at least four is hard because it’s hard to pick which guys you want to be responsible for all those goals against. With Howard in net, do we also root for the goals to be on kids like Svechnikov so they’re learning experiences or do we just want vets like DeKeyser, Kronwall, and Abdelkader to scapegoat?
Coyotes vs. Stars
Arizona has won two straight and could potentially catch New Jersey with a win over Dallas, but can’t possible catch Detroit in the standings. The Stars sit one point behind Detroit in the right-side-up standings and could help the Wings by offing the Coyotes. Look, I found a way that scoreboard watching in early April can still be fun for an eliminated team. I’m learning so much as a fan this year!
