Red Wings @ Avalanche — Gameday Updates, Projected Lines and Keys to the Game

Wings try to slow down Avs as the two renew rivalry

Jamie Zadow

• 2 min read Front Page

Gameday Updates

It looks like the Wings will be without Mike Green on the blueline for an extended period of time...

As one veteran leaves the lineup, another is hoping to make his way back soon...

News from the other end of the bench as Ian Cole should be good to play tonight for the Avalanche after Sunday’s nasty collision.

Projected Lineups

Red Wings Lines

Considering Green will be out for at least a week, Daley is probably the favourite to factor into tonight’s lineup as long as he doesn’t have a setback from the morning skate.

Avalanche Lines

Alexander Kerfoot — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen

Gabriel Landeskog — Tyson Jost — Matt Calvert

Derick Brassard — Carl Soderberg — JT Compher

Sven Andrighetto — Sheldon Dries — Colin Wilson

Samuel Girard — Erik Johnson

Ian Cole — Tyson Barrie

Patrik Nemeth — Nikita Zadorov

Semyon Varlamov

Philipp Grubauer

Keys to the Game

Stop Being Predictable

This one is directed at Jeff Blashill. Yesterday’s lines at practice had Wings fans extremely frustrated, and for good reason. Seeing Luke Glendening up on that second line made me cringe. Why not put Michael Rasmussen with Andreas Athanasiou and Filip Zadina? Let the kid play with a pair of creative linemates and see what happens, rather than shoving him out on the grind line in limited minutes. At this point, you would have been better off sending him to junior a couple weeks ago, making him eligible for the AHL playoffs. At least he would have got some quality playing time.

Skate, Skate, Skate

In order to keep up with the Avs, the Wings will need to use their one strength — their legs. It might not be the most skilled lineup (thanks in part to Blashill’s lack of creativity), but they have the horses that can skate up and down this lineup. When you look at the other bench, players like MacKinnon and Rantanen can certainly create headaches for you defensively — both have combined for 164 points this season — and they do so with their speed. If the Wings find a way to shut down this dynamic duo, it would go a long way towards coming out on top.