Gameday Updates
The #RedWings today recalled defenseman Brian Lashoff from the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
Details: https://t.co/LRaqzBn5Hx pic.twitter.com/NYJ3iNAwZd
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 11, 2018
Jimmy Howard was brilliant last night, stopping 42 of 43 shots on the way to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Will he get the start back-to-back? Jeff Blashill could ride the hot hand, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he played the percentages and gave Jonathan Bernier the nod tonight.
The anticipation throughout the weekend is that Washington will potentially get T.J. Oshie back tonight after missing significant time due to a concussion.
Reirden said it is a possibility that Oshie plays tomorrow vs Detroit, but they will wait and see how he looks this afternoon and tomorrow morning before making the call. https://t.co/HzHNA6nqeu
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) December 10, 2018
However, it doesn’t look promising for Tom Wilson to make his way back into the lineup as he missed Monday’s practice after a suffering a concussion against the Vegas Golden Knights last week.
Projected Lineups
Detroit Red Wings
Forwards
Gustav Nyquist — Dylan Larkin — Justin Abdelkader
Andreas Athanasiou — Frans Nielsen — Thomas Vanek
Tyler Bertuzzi — Luke Glendening — Michael Rasmussen
Christoffer Ehn — Jacob de la Rose — Martin Frk
Defense
Niklas Kronwall — Mike Green
Dennis Cholowski — Trevor Daley
Jonathan Ericsson — Nick Jensen
Goalies
Jonathan Bernier
Jimmy Howard
Washington Capitals
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson — Lars Eller — Devante Smith-Pelly
Travis Boyd — Nic Dowd — Dmitrij Jaskin
Defense
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Dmitri Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Christian Djoos — Madison Bowey
Goalies
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Keys to the Game
Play Smart, Play Disciplined
The Caps are welcoming back one of their top scorers tonight in Oshie, after missing 11 straight games with a concussion. The winger has 14 points in 18 games this year (including nine goals) and will certainly be a welcomed addition back on the powerplay. This is a unit that’s converting on 25.3% of their chances (7th in NHL) and as we’ve seen with Oshie, he can be dangerous on the man advantage. Be aggressive, but don’t force the issue too much that it lands you in the sin bin because this Caps team doesn’t need any additional chances already scoring at a clip of 3.62 GF/GP (3rd in NHL).
Play with the Lead
I know, it’s easier said than done. However, the Wings did a good job last night skating out to an early lead against the Kings and locking it down. It was a nice rebound after blowing a two goal lead against the New York Islanders on Saturday. The Caps have won eight of their last 10 games and are 9-3-0 this season when drawing first blood. Striking first will be critical if the Wings want to have success in this game.
