Detroit Red Wings (20-19-9, 6th Atlantic Division) vs.
Toronto Maple Leads (22-14-9, 3rd Atlantic Division)
How To Watch/Listen/Read
Puck Drop: 7:00 EST
TV: Fox Sports Detroit
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Leafs SB Nation Blog: Pension Plan Puppets
Last night the Red Wings snatched another point in overtime vs. the Bruins before losing on a David Pastrnak clapper. Tonight they head back home to face Toronto who will be rested following an easy disposal of the Flames at home Monday night.
The Leafs (swallows vomit) are one of the best stories in the NHL. They’ve gone through an improbably smooth dismantle and rebuild in just two seasons. They’re likely going to make the playoffs and will arguably the most exciting team in it.
As a Red Wings fan I hate to admit how likable the Leafs have become. They’re incredibly young (nine rookies!), flashy, move the puck as good as any team in the league right now and they push “these kids like to have fun” past cliche. If I could make a comparison, they remind me of an NHL version of Team North America from the World Cup—they do have Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly who are both alums.
Does this mean I’ll root for them in the playoffs? No. Will I crack a beer and thoroughly enjoy watching them? Yes. But with hopes they’ll eventually collapse in the most crushing way possible. Like maybe blowing a 4-1 lead in the 3rd period of a game 7. Wait, no, that could never happen.
Since the Wings played last night with travel, I doubt we’ll get much, if anything in way of lineup changes from an optional morning skate. I’ll project the same lineup as last night but watch out for Kronwall getting a night off and both Ott and Vanek returning from injury. Look for any updates in the Game Day Update posted this afternoon.
Red Wings Projected Lineup, Injuries and Scratches
(Courtesy of luminary, Mlive’s Ansar Khan and some projecting based on last night’s third period lines)
Forwards
Nyquist-Zetterberg-Tatar
Athanasiou-Nielsen-Mantha
Abdelkader-Sheahan-Jurco
Miller-Glendening-Helm
Defense
DeKeyser-Green
Ericsson-Ouellet
Kronwall-Jensen
Starter
Petr Mrazek
Scratches and Injuries
Ott (shoulder, day-to-day), Vanek (lower body, day-to-day), Larkin (upper body, day-to-day), Marchenko, Sproul, Coreau (back up)
Leafs Projected Lineup, Scratches and Injuries
(From Pension Plan Puppets’ Katyaknappe)
Forwards
Zach Hyman – Auston Matthews – Connor Brown
James van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Mitch Marner
Leo Komarov – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander
Matt Martin – Frederik Gauthier – Nikita Soshnikov
Defense
Martin Marincin – Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Gardiner – Connor Carrick
Matt Hunwick – Roman Polak
Starter
Frederick Andersson
Scratches and Injuries
Morgan Rielly (lower body, day-to-day), Frank Corrado, Curtis McElhinny (back up)
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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.
