8p ET, Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, MI
TV: NBCSN
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket/1270 AM
Blues Blog: St. Louis Game Time
Well it looks like the injury bug is back to rear it’s ugly head. This time striking Drew Miler (again), who is now out 4-6 months. The surgery to repair his torn meniscus apparently revealed the injury was much worse and the docs discovered a damaged ACL as well. His season is all but officially over. People will claim doom & gloom on the PK… but not so fast. Let’s see how things can improve with guys like Dylan Larkin getting more time on the ice with a man down. If Larkin is really going to be “the next Jonathan Toews” like some main stream media folks like to proclaim, then let him shine in all situations.
The other big injury belongs to Niklas Kronwall. The Red Wings veteran defenseman is out 2-4 weeks after getting his knee scoped. This injury intrigues me so much more than Miller’s. Normally, when your defacto #1 defenseman is out for an extended period of time there should be some sort of panic. With Kronwall being out, not so much.
We discussed on the latest podcast how Kronwall’s game has fallen off dramatically this season. He’s probably taken the biggest step back among all the vets on this team. By no means did we want him out of the lineup, but definitely thought he should get a reduced role. Now that he’s out, it means Alexey Marchenko is in. It means no more Kronwall/Jonathan Ericsson pairing. It means it’s time for the d-men we continually tout to get more ice time and opportunities are about to get their shot.
Tonight, it becomes Danny DeKeyser’s blue line. Tonight, Brendan Smith gets a chance to showcase his ability on the power play. Tonight, Marchenko can continues to prove he’s a top 4 defenseman on this team… every night.
These injuries aren’t going to derail the Red Wings. They’re going to do just the opposite. Opportunity knocks and the young guys are about to answer the door.
Detroit’s Expected Lineup
Forwards
| Gus Nyquist | Henrik Zetterberg | Justin Abdelkader |
| Dylan Larkin | Pavel Dastyuk | Tomas Tatar |
| Brad Richards | Riley Sheahan | Teemu Pulkkinen |
| Darren Helm | Luke Glendening | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Kyle Quincey | Danny DeKeyser |
| Jonathan Ericsson | Alexey Marchenko |
| Brendan Smith | Mike Green |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek |
| Jimmy Howard |
Scratches: Joakim Andersson
Injuries: Drew Miller, Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall
St Louis’ Expected Lineup
Forwards
| Alex Steen | Paul Statsny | Troy Brouwer |
| Robby Fabbri | Jori Lehtera | Vladimir Tarasenko |
| Patrik Berglund | David Backus | Ty Rattie |
| Scottie Upshall | Kyle Brodziak | Ryan Reaves |
Defensemen
| Jay Bouwmeester | Alex Pietrangelo |
| Kevin Shattenkirk | Colton Parayko |
| Joel Edmundson | Andre Benoit |
Goaltenders
| Brian Elliott |
| Jordan Binnington |
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Game Day Prediction Contest
Would you like to predict the outcome of the game and potentially become internet famous? Well you’re in luck, because here’s your opportunity. Here’s how it works.
Make your game predictions on the winning team, final score, and who the Wings player of the game will be. Enter the required information into the form below using the formats indicated in the questions. If you don’t use those formats, your answers will be disregarded. All submissions are timestamped and will be accepted only until the official game start time. All other submissions after that will be disregarded. Only one submission per person, please. POTG will be determined by the collective of WiiM writers.
Each correct winning team prediction is worth 1 point. Each correct player of the game prediction is worth 2 points. Each correct final score prediction is worth 5 points. If you get all three correct you’ll receive 15 points.
