Red Wings at Capitals: Gameday Updates, Line Combinations, Key Match-ups
Two solid changes for the Capitals. Both Karl Alzner and Marcus Johansson are expected to play tonight. Washington's lines have been updated below. No changes for the Red Wings. Lines are status-quo from the Morning Skate. According to Khan(!), Jimmy Howard is starting.
Howard starting
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 8, 2015 Line Combinations
Red Wings Lineup
Forwards
| Dylan Larkin | Henrik Zetterberg | Justin Abdelkader |
| Brad Richards | Pavel Datsyuk | Darren Helm |
| Gus Nyquist | Riley Sheahan | Tomas Tatar |
| Joakim Andersson | Luke Glendening | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Mike Green |
| Danny DeKeyser | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Brendan Smith | Alexey Marchenko |
Goaltenders
| Jimmy Howard |
| Petr Mrazek |
Scratches: Jakub Kindl
Injuries: Kyle Quincey, Johan Franzen, Drew Miller, Teemu Pulkkinen
Power-play units:
- Larkin-Zetterberg-Nyquist, Abdelkader (net front), Kronwall
- Tatar-Datsyuk-Sheahan (net front), Richards-Green
Capitals Lineup
Forwards
| Alex Ovechkin | Nicklas Backstrom | T.J. Oshie |
| Marcus Johansson | Evgeny Kuznetsov | Justin Williams |
| Jason Chimera | Jay Beagle | Tom WIlson |
| Brooks Laich | Michael Latta | Andre Burakovsky |
Defensemen
| Nate Schmidt | John Carlson |
| Karl Alzner | Matt Niskanen |
| Dmitri Orlov | Taylor Chorney |
Goaltenders
| Braden Holtby |
| Philipp Grubauer |
Fun Facts!
Red Wings all-time record against Washington: 48-42-16-3
Red Wings goals for per game (GF/G) against the Caps: 3.21
Red Wings goals against per game (GA/G) against the Caps: 3.25
Key Match-ups
Nyquist/Sheahan/Tatar vs Whomever is stuck trying to stop them
One of the best parts of the Wings current 10 game point streak has been the play of the "Kid" Line. Nyquist, Sheahan and Tatar have done a real nice job taking advantage of their matchups as the Wings 3rd line. The trio is driving possession and putting up points. During the streak, Nyquist has 9 points (4G, 5A) and Tatar has 10 (6G, 4A). Granted, not all those points came at even strength, but this line is taking advantage of the matchups 5v5 and as long as that continues, the Wings should continue to find success.
Capitals Power Play vs Red Wings Penalty Kill
We talked about what the absence of Drew Miller means for the Red Wings PK on our podcast last night. You can listen here. He, despite what the Wings diggers tell you, isn't the sole reason the Wings PK has done well this season. But there's no denying that the PK could use a bounce back performance after giving up three power play goals to the Predators. The fun news in all of this is that the Capitals have the NHL's 2nd best power play. So unless the Wings plan to score eight goals or take zero penalties, they should plan on shoring up the PK tonight.