Red Wings at Lightning: Gameday Updates, Line Combinations, Key Matchups
Get well soon, Riley.
Coach Blashill has ruled Riley Sheahan out for tonight vs. Tampa. #RedWings #DETvsTBL
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 3, 2016
No changes to the awesome Red Wings lineup. Riley Sheahan is still sick.
And, of course, I cannot forget to mention the long awaited and highly anticipated return of Jakub Kindl. The defenseman has been called up from Grand Rapids to serve as the 7th man of the unit.
That'll be day 1 of 30 that Kindl would have to be on the roster to again qualify for waivers (also qualifies by playing 10 games)
— Winging It In Motown (@wingingitmotown) February 3, 2016
Line Combinations
Red Wings Lineup
Forwards
| Justin Abdelkader | Henrik Zetterberg | Dylan Larkin |
| Darren Helm | Pavel Datsyuk | Brad Richards |
| Gus Nyquist | Luke Glendening | Tomas Tatar |
| Tomas Jurco | Joakim Andersson | Teemu Pulkkinen |
Defensemen
| Kyle Quincey | Danny DeKeyser |
| Brendan Smith | Mike Green |
| Jonathan Ericsson | Alexey Marchenko |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek |
| Jimmy Howard |
Scratches: Jakub Kindl, Riley Sheahan (illness)
Injuries: Johan Franzen, Drew Miller, Niklas Kronwall
Power-play units:
- Larkin-Zetterberg-Nyquist-Abdelkader (net front)-DeKeyser
- Tatar-Datsyuk-Helm (net front)-Richards-Green
Lightning Lineup
Forwards
| Ondrej Palat | Vladislav Namestnikov | Steven Stamkos |
| Alex Killorn | Tyler Johnson | Nikita Kucherov |
| J.T. Brown | Valtteri Filppula | Ryan Callahan |
| Cedric Paquette | Brian Boyle | Jonathan Marchessault |
Defensemen
| Victor Hedman | Anton Stralman |
| Jason Garrison | Andrej Sustr |
| Nikita Nesterov | Braydon Coburn |
Goaltenders
| Ben Bishop |
| Andrei Vasilevskiy |
Fun Facts!
Red Wings all-time record against Tampa Bay: 29-9-2-3 (W-L-T-OTL)
Red Wings goals for per game (GF/G) against the Lightning: 3.65
Red Wings goals against per game (GA/G) against the Lightning: 2.42
Key Matchups
Wings top two lines vs Lightning top two lines
Tampa's top two scorers, Kucherov (41 points) and Stamkos (38 points), according to the lineups out there on the Internet, find themselves on the right side on Tampa's top two lines. They've got some depth in that lineup. We know that from last year's playoff matchup. The Wings don't have the luxury of just attempting to shutdown Stamkos and calling it a day. Whomever comes out on top in the battle of the top six is likely to win this game, especially with Glendening centering the 3rd line. Not sure the Wings can count on their bottom six to win the game for them. The best will have to beat the best.
Luke Glendening vs Gus Nyquist/Tomas Tatar
This is an internal battle for the Red Wings. Nyquist and Tatar must battle to overcome the inefficiencies of their center. Glendening needs to just get out of the way and let his wingers do their thing. Win a face-off, get them the puck and get to the front of the net. Do the dirty work. Don't try to be what you're not.
Let's Go Red Wings.