Morning Skate: Red Wings at Senators

7:00p ET, Canadian Tire Center

Ottawa, ON

TV: FSD, TVAS, CITY

Radio: 97.1 FM The Ticket // 1270 AM CBS Sports Radio

Senators Blog: Silver Seven

The Wings are coming off a pair of ugly losses and a not-so-pretty win which capped off a successful homestand before that. With just a little over a week until the trade deadline, the Wings are in a similar position to where they were around this time last year, with inconsistent play and uncertainty clouding what should be a push to secure a playoff spot. We’ve lamented the players that have been struggling to score as of late and Petr Mrazek has let in five goals in both of his last two starts.

Jeff Blashill said after practice yesterday that he’d considered changing up the lineup that has largely stayed the same over the last several games. That gives me a little hesitation because right now I think there are two lines that have looked pretty good lately. The top line of Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Abdelkader has 17 points between them in the last five contests, and the Jurco-Athanasiou-Nyquist line impressed me early in Thursday’s game against the Penguins before the whole team collapsed.

According to the Wings’ Snapchat account (and unsurprisingly, not the diggers), Kronwall has been skating well and could be back tonight, which could provide quite the shakeup to the defensive pairs. Additionally, do we see Pulkkinen draw into the lineup for the first time in eight games? Do we see the Euro Twins split up again? We’ll likely get our answers as the Wings take to the ice this morning, but for now, here’s what we’ve got without any changes.

Red Wings Expected Lineups

Forwards

Defensemen

Goaltenders

Scratches: Teemu Pulkkinen, Jakub Kindl

Injuries: Drew Miller (torn meniscus/ACL surgery), Johan Franzen (concussion), Niklas Kronwall (knee surgery), Jonathan Ericsson (lower-body)

Meanwhile, the Senators haven’t exactly gotten the boost some expected after their so-called blockbuster of a trade for Dion Phaneuf. They lost the first three games after the deal and have won their last two, but they’re still well out of a playoff spot and probably won’t be able to put together another Hamburglar-fueled miracle run this season.

That said, they’re still a team that the Wings have had their successes and struggles against. After an extended post-practice meeting, the Wings should be looking to kick a team into the dirt, and what better than an annoying Atlantic Division opponent? Here’s the lineup of throats the Wings need to put skates to. Now STOMP!

Senators Expected Lineups

Forwards

Defensemen

Goaltenders

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.