Morning Skate: Detroit Red Wings vs Nashville Predators
7PM EST, Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, Michigan
TV: NHLN-US, FS-D, DS-TN
Radio: 97.1
Predators' Blog: On The Forecheck
The Red Wings are currently riding a nine-game point streak as they face off against the Predators tonight. The Wings seem to have finally put their machine into action, and the results have followed.
The Predators, on the other hand, have not faired as well, and have only won two of their last eight games, including a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday. During this eight game stretch, the Predators have only scored more than two goals on two occasions. Hopefully the Predators' offense does not awaken tonight.
The Wings will be without a pair of players who played in Thursday's game against the Phoenix Coyotes. Both Teemu Pulkkinen and Drew Miller are injured, and will miss the next few weeks. No call-ups from Grand Rapids have been made yet, and Joakim Andersson and Tomas Jurco will be playing tonight in their place.
Jeff Blashill has also announced that he will be shaking up the Wings' lineup, in part as a result of these injuries. Pavel Datsyuk will start the game playing alongside Justin Abdelkader and Henrik Zetterberg, while Brad Richards takes Pulkkinen's spot on the second line. Also, Petr Mrazek will be tonight's starting goaltender for the Wings.
I really like the way this team is currently playing. Let's hope that they keep it up!
Line Combinations (Subject To Changes)
Red Wings' Lineup
Forwards
| Justin Abdelkader | Henrik Zetterberg | Pavel Datsyuk |
| Dylan Larkin | Brad Richards | Darren Helm |
| Tomas Tatar | Riley Sheahan | Gustav Nyquist |
| Tomas Jurco | Luke Glendening | Joakim Andersson |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Mike Green |
| Danny DeKeyser | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Alexey Marchenko | Brendan Smith |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek (Starting) |
| Jimmy Howard |
Scratches: Jakub Kindl
Injuries: Teemu Pulkkinen, Drew Miller, Johan Franzen, Kyle Quincey
Predators' Lineup
Forwards
| Filip Forsberg | Mike Ribiero | Craig Smith |
| Viktor Arvidsson | Calle Jarnkrok | James Neal |
| Colin Wilson | Colton Sissons | Cody Hodgson |
| Eric Nystrom | Cody Bass | Austin Watson |
Defensemen
| Roman Josi | Shea Weber |
| Mattias Ekholm | Ryan Ellis |
| Barret Jackman | Seth Jones |
Goaltenders
| Pekka Rinne (Starting) |
| Carter Hutton |
Let's Go Red Wings!
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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.