Game Day Updates
Regarding lineups, from yesterday’s practice:
#RedWings lines/D in practice:
Fabbri-Larkin-Zadina
Filppula-Namestnikov-Mantha
Svechnikov-Rasmussen-Nielsen
Helm-Glendening-Erne
Gagner is not skating. Smith was there at start but no longer on the ice. Ryan skated earlier
DeKeyser-Hronek
Staal-Merrill
Nemeth-Djoos
Biega-Stecher pic.twitter.com/13cKjTwNgc— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) March 29, 2021
#RedWings Blashill said Smith leaving the ice shortly after practice was protocol-related. He came back after and is good to go. Gagner likely available tomorrow. Ryan day to day, not expected longer than a week. Bernier will start practicing soon.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) March 29, 2021
Cholowski and Brome are headed to Grand Rapids:
UPDATE: Forward Givani Smith has been reassigned to the #RedWings taxi squad from the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Additionally, forward Mathias Brome and defenseman Dennis Cholowski have been reassigned to Grand Rapids. pic.twitter.com/b98H3FVSL5
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 29, 2021
Confirmation of Ekblad’s brutal injury from the Panthers:
#FlaPanthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad has undergone successful surgery to repair a fracture in his lower extremities and is expected to be out of the lineup for 12 weeks.
» https://t.co/xGpJ53H3ss pic.twitter.com/3bPbEnpwaa
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) March 29, 2021
Sergei Bobrovsky the #FlaPanthers first player on the ice, heads straight to the starter’s crease.
Looks like it’s back to Bob tonight against #LGRW. pic.twitter.com/9JehlaI0LE
— David Dwork (@DavidDwork) March 30, 2021
Quenneville said he expects Sasha Barkov to return at some point during the #FlaPanthers homestand.
“Barky’s getting close.”
— David Dwork (@DavidDwork) March 30, 2021
Lineups
Detroit
Forwards
Robby Fabbri – Dylan Larkin – Filip Zadina
Givani Smith – Vladislav Namestnikov – Anthony Mantha
Evgeny Svechnikov – Michael Rasmussen – Sam Gagner
Darren Helm – Luke Glendening – Adam Erne
Defense
Danny DeKeyser – Filip Hronek
Marc Staal – Jon Merrill
Patrik Nemeth – Christian Djoos
Goalies
Calvin Pickard
Thomas Greiss
Florida
Forwards
Jonathan Huberdeau – Alexander Wennberg – Brett Connolly
Anthony Duclair – Noel Acciari – Carter Verhaeghe
Frank Vatrano – Juho Lammikko – Owen Tippett
Mason Marchment – Eetu Luostarinen – Ryan Lomberg
Defense
MacKenzie Weegar – Gustav Forsling
Keith Yandle – Markus Nutivaara
Riley Stillman – Radko Gudas
Goalies
Sergei Bobrovsky
Chris Driedger
Keys to the Game
1. Ride the Wave
Detroit put together two of their best games of the season on the weekend against Columbus. They need to keep that momentum going and try to get a win streak going. They looked like an entirely different team than they did earlier in the week and they need to make sure they continue to look more like the latter rather than the former.
2. Take Advantage of an Undermanned Squad
Florida is beginning to see the injuries pile up, particularly to key member of their roster. Ekblad is now out for the season after looking like one of the top defencemen in the league this season. They’re also missing Barkov and Hornqvist up front. Those are not holes the Panther can easily fill and the Wings need to jump on it. The Panthers are left with only Huberdeau and Verhaeghe up front that are producing at a high clip, albeit with some decent secondary options. The blue line is a lot thinner without Ekblad and this will be their first attempt trying to fill his minutes. It’s a recipe for Detroit to take advantage of and they need to.
3. Top Line Needs to Produce Like It
The Red Wings top line has looked good as of late. They generate good opportunities when they’re out there. Larkin has been buzzing, without the production quite yet that he’s earned. Fabbri continues to make a good push. The recent addition of Zadina, replacing Mantha on the right wing has looked revitalized. Even Mantha, who still sees the odd minutes with Larkin, has started to look like his old self a bit. But the production needs to follow for all of these guys. It’s good that they are generating opportunities but the points need to follow a bit more than they have. It’s time to finish the chances.
