Time: 10:00 PM EST
Place: Rogers Arena
TV: FS-Detroit, SN1
Radio: 97.1 FM The Ticket/1270 AM
Canucks Blog: Nucks Misconduct
After getting off to a great start to the season, the Red Wings were brought back down to reality a bit after their 5-2 loss at home to the Maple Leafs Saturday. However, there is still plenty to be excited about with this team five games in as they hit the West Coast for the first time this year. Anthony Mantha is still tied for 2nd in the NHL in points, Dylan Larkin is tied for 6th in +/- at +5, Danny Dekeyser is tied for 8th in assists by defenseman, Filip Hronek has began his ascent to being a top pairing defenseman and the Red Wings fourth line has been, well, very good. It’s still only five games in, so you don’t want to get caught up in anything too much, but it’s the start the Red Wings desperately needed to give us fans some kind of hope moving forward.
As for the Nucks, they started the season 0-2 before winning back-to-back games, including Saturday’s shootout win over Philly. Newly acquired JT Miller is off to a great start leading the team with five points, while rookie D-man Quinn Hughes has 3 points in 4 games this year and has shown major signs of what he can bring to the table moving forward. Jacob Markstrom, who in my opinion has been one of the more underrated goalies the last two years, has started all four games for Vancouver and sports a .926% (10th in the NHL) and 2.23 GAA (6th). However, as of yesterday morning, he was granted a leave of absence to attend a family matter and will be out until the weekend. So it looks like the Red Wings will most likely see Thatcher Demko in net, who would be making his 2019-20 debut. The biggest concern for the Canucks right now is newly appointed captain, Bo Horvat, has just one assist in 4 games so far. He’s been their 2nd line center this year, and despite his linemates, Tanner Pearson and Josh Leivo, combining for 6 points in 4 games, Horvat has been quiet. It should be an interesting game tonight as both teams continue to search for their identity and consistency into this young season.
Projected Lines
Red Wings
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha
Hirose-AA-LGD
Ehn-Filppula-Erne
Helm-DLR-Abdelkader
Dekeyser-Hronek
Nemeth-Green
Cholowski-Biega
Jimmy Howard
Jonathan Bernier
Canucks
Miller-Petersson-Boeser
Pearson-Horat-Leivo
Ferland-Gaudette-Sutter
Schaller-Beagle-Virtanen
Edler-Meyers
Hughes-Tanev
Benn-Stecher
Thatcher Demko
Zane McIntyre
