Morning Skate: Red Wings vs Penguins
Game 38
6pm EST, Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, MI
TV: Fox Sports Detroit
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Ah, it's good to be back in action. The Wings had a restful day off and after sending amateur replacement players in for two games, the Red Wings are well rested, energized, motivated, and ready to get back to playing hockey. Coach Blashill wasn't impressed with the the last 2 games, and neither was anyone else. Everyone at WIIM had to rage nap after that last performance.
It's a new day however, and a chance to send 2015 into the past on a happy note. It's time to burn the tape, ditch the clownshoes, and take some of that frustration out on the Penguins, who lost 3-2 to the Maple Leafs last night in a shootout. The flightless birds are without Marc-Andre Fleury who has a concussion, and Pascal Dupuis and Beau Bennett who are also injured. I don't know who about a third of their roster is, but I do know Kevin Porter, who was the Griffins 4th leading scorer last year... So congratulations on your hat trick tonight, Kev.
There's a lot of talking about how the Wings need to play a whole lot better than the last two game, but the rubber hits the ice tonight and I want action, not words.
Line Combinations
Red Wings' Lineup
Forwards
| Justin Abdelkader | Henrik Zetterberg | Dylan Larkin |
| Brad Richards | Pavel Datsyuk | Darren Helm |
| Gustav Nyquist | Riley Sheahan | Tomas Tatar |
| Tomas Nosek | Luke Glendening | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Danny DeKeyser |
| Brendan Smith | Mike Green |
| Jakub Kindl | Alexey Marchenko |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek |
| Jimmy Howard |
Scratches: Joakim Andersson
Injuries: Johan Franzen, Teemu Pulkkinen, Drew Miller, Jonathan Ericsson, Kyle Quincey
Pittsburgh's Expected Lineup
Forwards
| Chris Kunitz | Sidney Crosby | Conor Sheary |
| David Perron | Evgeny Malkin | Patric Hornqvist |
| Scott Wilson | Nick Bonino | Phil Kessel |
| Kevin Porter | Matt Cullen | Eric Fehr |
Defensemen
| Olli Maatta | Kris Letang |
| Brian Dumoulin | Ben Lovejoy |
| Ian Cole | Trevor Daley |
Goaltenders
| Jeff Zatkoff |
| Matt Murray |
| PENGUINS | THE MATCH-UP | RED WINGS |
| 17-15-4 (38pts 5th Metro) | Record | 18-12-7(43 pts, 4th Atlantic) |
| 2.23 (28th in NHL) | Goals Per Game | 2.51 (20th in NHL) |
| 2.40 (23rd) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.59 (15th) |
| 16.2% (28th) | Power Play % | 18.2% (18th) |
| 83.3% (6th) | Penalty Kill % | 81.0% (13th) |
| Evgeny Malkin (17) | Goal Leader | Dylan Larkin (13) |
| Evgeny Malkin (31) | Points Leader | Henrik Zetterberg (28) |
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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.