While we all wait for stuff to happen on the trade front, we’ve got a game tonight to deal with. Here’s what we know so far.
Appears Smith and Pulkkinen out again tonight vs. Dallas
— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) February 29, 2016
According to the diggers, the lines are the same as last game. If a trade forces something to change, we’ll make sure to cover it. Smith may still be on the block, but as of right now, he’s a Red Wing and he’s a scratch.
UPDATE
Howard starting
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) February 29, 2016
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Line Combinations
Red Wings Expected Lineups
Forwards
| Henrik Zetterberg | Pavel Datsyuk | Justin Abdelkader |
| Gustav Nyquist | Riley Sheahan | Tomas Tatar |
| Brad Richards | Andreas Athanasiou | Dylan Larkin |
| Darren Helm | Luke Glendening | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Kyle Quincey | Danny DeKeyser |
| Niklas Kronwall | Alexey Marchenko |
| Jonathan Ericsson | Mike Green |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek |
| Jimmy Howard (starting) |
Scratches: Teemu Pulkkinen, Brendan Smith
Injuries: Johan Franzen, Drew Miller
Power-play units:
- Nyquist-Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Abdelkader (net front)-Kronwall
- Tatar-Larkin-Richards-Jurco (Net-Front)-Green
Stars Lineup
Forwards
| Jamie Benn | Tyler Seguin | Patrick Sharp |
| Mattias Janmark | Jason Spezza | Valeri Nichushkin |
| Antoine Roussel | Cody Eakin | Ales Hemsky |
| Vernon Fiddler | Radek Faksa | Colton Sceviour |
Defensemen
| Alex Goligoski | John Klingberg |
| Johnny Oduya | Jason Demers |
| Jordie Benn | Patrik Nemeth |
Goaltenders
| Antti Niemi (starting) |
| Kari Lehtonen |
If he’s healthy enough, Travis Moen will likely be in Sceviour’s place on the 4th line, based on Mike Heika’s worktoday.
Fun Facts!
Red Wings all-time record against Dallas: 110-98-34-6 (W-L-T-OTL)
Red Wings goals for per game (GF/G) against the Stars: 3.39
Red Wings goals against per game (GA/G) against the Stars: 3.22
Key Matchups
Red Wings defense vs. Dallas offense
The Stars can drop goals like Patrick Roy drops pucks and the Wings’ defense is going to have their hands full with the speedy, sizable forward corps the Stars bring to bear. It’s going to have to be a very well-structured game by the Wings as a whole to limit the damage they can do. It’s not just about the blueliners in this, but the forwards will have to help the defensemen keep good gap and not turn the puck over in bad spots.
Red Wings vs. Emotional Letdown
Staying on the road after a big game, the Wings are just about due to have a let-down. They can’t afford it and they shouldn’t get excuses for it. Dallas is a good team and it’s possible to lose to them even giving maximum effort, but losing to them without that is super-easy and would make us all super-mad.
Let’s Go Red Wings.
