Confirmed Line Combinations For Tonight
Red Wings‘ Lineup
Forwards
| Dylan Larkin | Henrik Zetterberg | Justin Abdelkader |
| Darren Helm | Pavel Datsyuk | Brad Richards |
| Gustav 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: ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (no one has indicated that the lineups have changed, so everything below is speculation)
Injuries: Johan Franzen, Kyle Quincey, Drew Miller, Teemu Pulkkinen
Power-play Units:
1st unit: Dylan Larkin, Henrik Zetterberg, Justin Abdelkader, Niklas Kronwall, Gustav Nyquist
2nd unit: Tomas Tatar, Pavel Datsyuk, Riley Sheahan, Brad Richards, Mike Green
Devils‘ Lineup
Forwards
| Mike Cammalleri | Jacob Josefson | Lee Stempniak |
| Jiri Tlusty | Joe Blandisi | Kyle Palmieri |
| Patrik Elias | Sergey Kalinin | Tyler Kennedy |
| Brian O’Neill | Stephen Gionta | Jordin Tootoo |
Defensemen
| Andy Greene | Adam Larsson |
| John Moore | Damon Severson |
| Eric Gelinas | David Schlemko |
Goaltenders
| Cory Schneider |
| Keith Kinkaid |
NOTE: There were no actual updates from Habs writers, just speculation that Nathan Beaulieu, and Christian Thomas may sit, while Charles Hudon and Greg Pateryn will play.
UPDATE: They are in. Lineups have been adjusted. Charles Hudon will make his NHL debut.
Update to the Update: No Hudon, Beaulieu, Thomas, or Pateryn against the Wings tonight unless one of them is traded to New Jersey in the next few hours.
Key Match-Ups
Special Teams
The Devils are without their two top centers, and the Wings will look to capitalize on that despite not having last change. However, the Devils are very strong on both the power play and penalty kill, while the Wings are hot garbage with the man advantage. Keeping the special teams even should give the Wings a good opportunity to win provided they are the better team at even strength.
Jeff Blashill vs John Hynes
While these two won’t face each other directly, tonight sees the two youngest coaches in the NHL go against each other for the first time. Both were highly-sought after coaches who had success in the AHL, and both have guided their teams to stronger starts in the NHL while defying expectations (Hynes more so because the Devils were not supposed to be good at all).
Energy vs Fatigue
This is actually a carry-over match-up from yesterday, but this time the Red Wings are the tired team while the Devils are home and rested. The Wings had a good performance last night against the Canadiens, but haven’t fared well in back-to-backs all year.
