#RedWings Mrazek in starter’s net. #SJSharks in town tonight. pic.twitter.com/J74j6UlKBT
— Dana Wakiji (@Dwakiji) January 31, 2018
#RedWings morning skate:
Mantha-Zetterberg-Nyquist
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Athanasiou (Booth extra)
Helm-Nielsen-Tatar
Frk-Glendening-AbdelkaderEricsson-Daley
Kronwall-Green
DeKeyser-Jensen
Witkowski-Ouellet— Dana Wakiji (@Dwakiji) January 31, 2018
Updated Lineups
DETROIT RED WINGS
Gustav Nyquist – Henrik Zetterberg – Anthony Mantha
Tyler Bertuzzi – Dylan Larkin – Andreas Athanasiou
Tomas Tatar – Frans Nielsen – Darren Helm
Justin Abdelkader – Luke Glendening – Martin Frk
Danny DeKeyser – Nick Jensen
Niklas Kronwall – Mike Green
Jonathan Ericsson – Trevor Daley
Petr Mrazek
Jimmy Howard
Power Play
PP1 – Athanasiou, Zetterberg, Mantha, Frk, Kronwall
PP2 – Nyquist, Larkin, Bertuzzi, Tatar, Green
SAN JOSE SHARKS
Timo Meier — Logan Couture — Kevin Labanc
Mikkel Boedker — Joe Pavelski — Chris Tierney
Melker Karlsson — Tomas Hertl — Joonas Donskoi
Marcus Sorensen — Barclay Goodrow — Joel Ward
Brent Burns — Joakim Ryan
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon — Dylan DeMelo
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Power Play
PP1 – Hertl, Couture, Labanc, Pavelski, Burns
PP2 – Meier, Tierney, Donskoi, Vlasic, Demelo
Keys to the Game
Play Under Control
This Sharks team has a way of getting under your skin and getting a team off their game. The Red Wings will have to play smart and not let the chippiness and chirping get into their heads.
Hare Speed
While not exactly slow per say, no one is going to call the Sharks a fast skating team. Pittsburgh laid the blueprint on how to beat the Sharks in the Cup Finals two seasons ago and blueprint is still valid. Look for the usual suspects (Larkin, Athanasiou, Bertuzzi, Mantha) to push the pace when they can and try to catch San Jose flat footed on a break.
Tortoise Mind
While they need to use their speed to attack, they need to slow down their minds first. Too often in the first half it seemed like they would get caught trying to do too much or be too aggressive in the wrong spot and it would end up with the puck in their net or them missing the net completely on a golden chance in the offensive end. With a team as good as San Jose can be at forcing turnovers, a gifted goal or a missed opportunity could be all it takes for the Wings to take another L tonight.
