We’ve got a few roster updates for you ahead of tonight’s tilt versus Minnesota. Ericsson was on the ice for morning skate and paired with Daley, so he seems to be over whatever illness he was battling. This means Ouellet sits. Howard is confirmed to be starting, and Booth and Frk were cycling in and out on Glendening’s right. I’m not sure why Frk isn’t a given for the spot over both Booth and Witkowski, but I’m not the one who makes those decisions.
#RedWings in morning skate:
Bertuzzi-Zetterberg-Nyquist
Abdelkader-Larkin-Mantha
Athanasiou-Nielsen-Helm
Witkowski-Glendening-Booth (Frk working in)Ericsson-Daley
DeKeyser-Jensen
Kronwall-Green— Dana Wakiji (@Dwakiji) March 4, 2018
No news on the Wild front, except that Dubnyk has been confirmed to start tonight, as expected. Also, Foligno is out for tonight, Luke Kunin takes his place on the third line, and Tyler Ennis drops to the fourth. It’s a move that is about Kunin’s development and shouldn’t have a huge bearing on their potency tonight.
Three Keys to the Game
Respect Zucker’s Speed. Jason Zucker is fast. He’s in the same category as Larkin and Athanasiou, and he’s playing on a line with a resurgent Eric Staal and Mikael Granlund. It’s a very potent line, especially of late, and Zucker’s speed makes a lot of room for his line mates. The Wings will do well to keep him contained to the outside so Zucker doesn’t get Detroit’s D turned around and discombobulated.
Get to the inside. Minnesota gives up a lot of shots, but they force those shots to the outside in low-chance areas. Detroit will have to get pressure on the inside against Minnesota and open up space in the slot. Fortunately, the Wings’ top lines are good at getting the puck down low and then retrieving it, so look for them to double down tonight.
Let’s see a Nyquist goal. This is totally selfish. 100%. He hasn’t scored a goal since February 17th in Nashville, so dude’s due. It can be a no-look high-rising backhander like against the Avs in the outdoor game a few years back. It can be 28-seconds-of-singular-possession like against Ottawa. I don’t care; they’re usually cool goals and I’m grumpy today, so throw me a bone here, hockey gods.
