Red Wings at Blue Jackets: Gameday Updates, Line Combinations, Keys to the Game
Sadly, it was Calvin Johnson that retired today and not Jonathan Ericsson.
It was an optional skate for the Red Wings this morning. They've earned it, for sure. According to Jeff Blashill, the Wings expect Pavel Datsyuk to be back tonight. The rest of the lineup is still TBD. Let's hope the team makes the right call and plays Brendan Smith (they won't).
Coach anticipates Pav will be good to go tonight. All other lineup changes will be decided later this afternoon. #DETvsCBJ #LGRW
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 8, 2016
Line Combinations
Red Wings Lineup
Forwards
| Henrik Zetterberg | Pavel Datsyuk | Justin Abdelkader |
| Gus Nyquist | Riley Sheahan | Tomas Tatar |
| Dylan Larkin | Andreas Athanasiou | Brad Richards |
| Darren Helm | Luke Glendening | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Kyle Quincey | Mike Green |
| Danny DeKeyser | Alexey Marchenko |
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
Goaltenders
| Jimmy Howard |
| Petr Mrazek |
Scratches: Teemu Pulkkinen, Brendan Smith :'(
Injuries: Johan Franzen, Drew Miller
Jackets Lineup
Forwards
| Nick Foligno | Alexander Wennberg | Scott Hartnell |
| Boone Jenner | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Matt Calvert | William Karlsson | David Clarkson |
| Rene Bourque | Gregory Campbell | Jared Boll |
Defensemen
| Ryan Murray | Seth Jones |
| Cody Goloubef | David Savard |
| Fedor Tyutin | Dalton Prout |
Goaltenders
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Curtis McElhinney |
Fun Facts!
Red Wings all-time record against Columbus: 53-19-1-8 (W-L-T-OTL)
Red Wings goals for per game (GF/G) against the Jackets: 3.16
Red Wings goals against per game (GA/G) against the Jackets: 2.26
Key to the Game
SCORE SOME DAMN GOALS
The entire puck needs to cross the goal line. That's how you score goals. You need to score more than the other team in order to get the victory and two points in the standings.
SCORE MORE GOALS
Duh.
Get the puck moving from low to high in the offense zone
Quoting Prahshanth because he's smarter than me:
It's a Tortorella team, so they collapse in the D-zone. If you try and overpass, you'll get burned. Move the puck down low, have the D collpase in and then get to the front of the net. Defensively, Tortorella employs an aggressive 1-2-2 and sometimes 2-1-2 forecheck. Need to make sure forwards provide outlets to the middle of the ice.
Let's Go Red Wings.