Red Wings at Ducks: Gameday Updates, Line Combinations, Key Match-ups
Line Combinations
Red Wings Lineup
Forwards
| Gustav Nyquist | Henrik Zetterberg | Justin Abdelkader |
| Tomas Tatar | Pavel Datsyuk | Darren Helm |
| Dylan Larkin | Riley Sheahan | Brad Richards |
| Drew Miller | Luke Glendening | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Danny DeKeyser | Alexey Marchenko |
| Brendan Smith | Mike Green |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek (starting) |
| Jimmy Howard |
Scratches: Joakim Andersson
Injuries: Teemu Pulkkinen (shoulder), Johan Franzen (concussion), Kyle Quincey (ankle)
Power-play units:
- Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Abdelkader (net front), Nyquist-Kronwall
- Tatar-Larkin-Sheahan (net front), Richards-Green
Ducks Lineup
Forwards
| Rickard Rakell | Ryan Getzlaf | Corey Perry |
| Carl Hagelin | Ryan Kesler | Jakob Silfverberg |
| Andrew Cogliano | Shawn Horcoff | Jiri Sekac |
| Patrick Maroon | Nate Thompson | Chris Stewart |
Defensemen
| Hampus Lindholm | John Manson |
| Sami Vatanen | Kevin Bieksa |
| Shea Theodore | Korbinian Holzer |
Goaltenders
| John Gibson (starting) |
| Frederick Andersen |
Key Matchups
Top-six battle
Anaheim's top-six might be one of the best in the league. They started the season ice-cold, but now have started to heat up, so the Red Wings will have their hands full in that regard. The duo of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry is still ridiculously potent, so whichever line is chosen to shut them down is going to need to bring their A-game. Hopefully Blashill keeps Luke Glendening as far away from Anaheim's top line as humanly possible.
Petr Mrazek
This isn't really a match-up, but it's worth noting. Mrazek has been lights out for the Red Wings, and with the way they have been playing as of late, he needs to stay consistent with that. I have no doubts, as we finally broke away from the 1A/1B rotation, but Mrazek's workload is heavy, and I don't see it getting much lighter. Let's see what the kid's got!
Special teams
We say this every damn game it seems. The PK has been great, but the PP has been... Not great. I'm just stating the obvious here: The Red Wings need to figure it out, but if they haven't by now, then it might not happen without some personnel changes.