Updated Line Combinations from The Diggers:
Red Wings Lineup
Forwards
| Justin Abdelkader | Henrik Zetterberg | Dylan Larkin |
| Tomas Tatar | Brad Richards | Gustav Nyquist |
| Johan Franzen | Riley Sheahan | Teemu Pulkkinen |
| Drew Miller | Luke Glendening | Landon Ferraro |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Kyle Quincey | Mike Green |
| Brendan Smith | Jakub Kindl |
Goaltenders
| Jimmy Howard (starting) |
| Petr Mrazek |
Injuries: Pavel Datsyuk, Darren Helm
Power Play Units:
- Franzen-Zetterberg-Abdelkader (net front) Kronwall, Kindl
- Tatar-Nyquist-Sheahan (net front) Green, Richards
Forwards
| James van Riemsdyk | Nazem Kadri | Brad Boyes |
| Shawn Mathias | Tyler Bozak | Joffrey Lupul |
| Daniel Winnik | Nick Spaling | P.A. Parenteau |
| Leo Komarov | Peter Holland | Mark Arcobello |
Defensemen
| Matt Hunwick | Dion Phaneuf |
| Martin Marincin | Morgan Rielly |
| Jake Gardiner | Scott Harrington |
Goaltenders
| Jonathan Bernier (starting) |
| James Reimer |
Players to Watch:
For Detroit:
Dylan Larkin, duh. The kid is making his NHL debut tonight, and will be playing top-line minutes next to Henrik Zetterberg, and Justin Abdelkader.
For Toronto:
Nazem Kadri. The skilled center is playing top minutes, and can be an effective playmaker next to James van Riemsdyk. The Red Wings defense will need to push this line to the perimeter to keep them from crashing the net and creating scoring chances.
Key Match-ups:
I think aside from the obvious battle in the top-six, the Leafs are icing a pretty solid fourth line which consist of three decent forwards who all bring scoring, two-way abilities, and a bit of speed. That fourth line match-up could be something to keep an eye on. We know Detroit’s fourth line isn’t all that great at scoring, so it will be interesting to see how they perform against each other Of course, we aren’t so sure how Blashill will deploy his players against Babcock, but if we know anything about Uncle Mike, Toronto’s fourth line will be all over the place.
