Game Day Updates
Bob in net tonight vs. Detroit, per Coach Q. #DETvsFLA
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) February 9, 2021
Q also says Ryan Lomberg probably gets back in the #FlaPanthers lineup tonight.
— David Dwork (@DavidDwork) February 9, 2021
Update: Forwards Mathias Brome and Givani Smith have been recalled from the #RedWings taxi squad. pic.twitter.com/4NyNahdeF0
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 9, 2021
#RedWings Blashill declined to say whether Mantha will return to lineup tonight in Florida (7 p.m., FSD Plus). Glendening out, day to day; Bertuzzi not ready until at least Monday; Bernier getting close but not ready, so looks like Greiss starts tonight.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) February 9, 2021
Before people go crazy in the comments, please read this note about projected lineups. In seasons past, we would frequently get tweets from the beat writers talking about what the lines were at the morning skate. We could then use those for our projected lines.
This season, we rarely get that. NHL.com has projected lines a few hours before gametime, but they were not accurate last game, unfortunately. A sincere thank you to the commenter who pointed that out.
Because of that, we are typically either using the lines from the previous game or from Daily Faceoff, with changes based on public information not reflected in those lines.
For today, as of press time, I am projecting that Anthony Mantha does not re-join the lineup. Before people take to the comments with pitchforks and torches, I am basing this on the frequently used coaching maxim about not changing a winning lineup. I don’t agree with that maxim, but we’ve seen it a ton of times, including with Jeff Blashill.
Anthony Mantha could very well be back in the lineup tonight. I hope he is. I’m just making an educated guess.
Luke Glendening will be out after the hit last game by Radko Gudas, whose continued existence in the NHL is all you need to know that the league doesn’t really care about taking dirty hits out of the game. I’m guessing Taro Hirose comes back in, and I’m guessing where he’ll go.
Lineups
Detroit
Forwards
Filip Zadina – Dylan Larkin – Givani Smith
Mathias Bromé – Robby Fabbri – Bobby Ryan
Taro Hirose – Vladislav Namestnikov – Sam Gagner
Frans Nielsen – Darren Helm – Adam Erne
Defense
Christian Djoos – Filip Hronek
Marc Staal – Troy Stecher
Patrik Nemeth – Jon Merrill
Goalies
Thomas Greiss
Calvin Pickard
Florida
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Anthony Duclair
Jonathan Huberdeau – Alexander Wennberg – Patric Hornqvist
Frank Vatrano – Eetu Luostarinen – Owen Tippett
Ryan Lomberg – Juho Lammikko – Noel Acciari
Defense
Mackenzie Weegar – Aaron Ekblad
Markus Nutivaara – Anton Stralman
Keith Yandle – Radko Gudas
Goalies
Sergei Bobrovsky
Chris Driedger
Keys to the Game
1. Let’s do that again
Minus the Mantha drama and the Glendening injury, last game was a game most fans would be happy to see play out again and again. The players who were out due to COVID protocol are starting to round back into form. Things can be good again!
2. Keep it up Givani
Due to internet issues at Casa Flynn, I didn’t get to see too much of the last game, which is of course annoying! But it’s obvious that Smith had a great game, and I look forward to see what he can do as he grows ever more confident at the NHL level.
3. Double the Greiss wins
If Greiss starts again, it would be great to see him get the same effort in front of him as last game, his first win as a Red Wing. He should have won a few more already, and it’ll be nice to see some of his regular stats start to more reflect his overall play so far this season.
