Morning Skate: Red Wings vs Predators
3:00p ET, Bridgestone Arena
Nashville, TN
TV: FSDT, FSTN
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Predators Blog: On the Forecheck
It's an early afternoon game, kiddos. Grab a slice of pizza, a beer (juice for the little ones), and let's hockey.
Last time we played Nashville, it was something else. Detroit won that game 5-2, and Tomas Tatar had two goals. Can we do it again? Maybe. We've got Jonas Gustavsson in the pipes tonight coming off of a very impressive performance against Los Angeles. It was a loss, yes, but he only let one goal in and Detroit just couldn't break Jonathan Quick.
Nashville is the best team in the league, I think. They're a a finely tuned machine with an emerging star in Filip Forsberg, an elite defensive core, and arguably one of the best goalies the NHL has in Pekka Rinne.
Detroit can win this game on special teams alone, but Nashville has only lost five games on home ice this season.. So yeah, our work is definitely cut out for us. If Teemu Pulkkinen can have another stellar game, and Pavel Datsyuk's line can continue to dominate, I think they've got a damn good chance. GET IT.
The Expected Lineups (Subject to Change)
Forwards
| Tomas Tatar | Pavel Datsyuk | Darren Helm |
| Gustav Nyquist | Riley Sheahan | Justin Abdelkader |
| Stephen Weiss | Luke Glendening | Teemu Pulkkinen |
| Drew Miller | Joakim Andersson | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Jakub Kindl | Danny DeKeyser |
| Brendan Smith | Alexey Marchenko |
Goaltenders
| Jonas Gustavsson (starting) |
| Jimmy Howard |
Scratches: Daniel Cleary
Injuries: Henrik Zetterberg (upper body) & Johan Franzen (headaches)
Forwards
| Filip Forsberg | Mike Ribeiro | James Neal |
| Craig Smith | Mike Fisher | Matt Cullen |
| Colin Wilson | Calle Jarnkrok | Mike Santorelli |
| Eric Nystrom | Paul Gaustad | Gabriel Bourque |
Defensemen
| Roman Josi | Shea Weber |
| Mattias Ekholm | Cody Franson |
| Seth Jones | Ryan Ellis |
Goaltenders
| Pekka Rinne |
| Carter Hutton |
| SHARKS | THE MATCH-UP | RED WINGS |
| 41-14-7 (89 pts; 1st in West) | Record | 34-15-11 (79 pts; 3rd in Atlantic) |
| 2.94 (6th in NHL) | Goals Per Game | 2.88 (8th in NHL) |
| 2.29 (2nd) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.45 (7th) |
| 17.1% (23rd) | Power Play % | 25.1% (1st) |
| 82.2% (13th) | Penalty Kill % | 83.0% (9th) |
| Filip Forsberg (21 goals) | Goal Leader | Tomas Tatar (24 goals) |
| Filip Forsberg (52 points) | Points Leader | Pavel Datsyuk (50 points) |
- The Red Wings are 59-42-4 (W-L-OTL) all-time in the regular season against the Nashville Predators franchise.
- Last 10 Games: Nashville 7-2-1, Detroit 5-3-2/
- Pavel Datsyuk has 71 points (21 goals, 50 assists) in 64 career games against the Nashville Predators/