Gameday Updates
There was no morning skate for the Wings and it as probably for the best as they had quite the evening on Thursday just to be able to make it into Newark for today’s game. Jeff Blashill mentioned that Jacob de la Rose could be available for this one after missing some time with an upper-body injury.
On the other end of the rink, the Devils have been without their young stud, Nico Hischier, for the past two games as he also deals with an upper-body injury. Sounds like he will be a game-time call for this one. Also, still no update on defenseman Sami Vatanen and his availability for today…
#NJDevils defenseman Sami Vatanen, who left last night’s game 4:38 into the second period because of an undisclosed injury, is not on the ice this afternoon. John Hynes didn’t have an update after the game. Perhaps something later.
— Mike Morreale (@mikemorrealeNHL) November 16, 2018
[UPDATE]
#NJDevils Nico Hischier and Sami Vatanen are both OUT against the Red Wings this afternoon.
Yakovlev is in on defense.
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) November 17, 2018
[UPDATE 2]
#RedWings projected lineup this afternoon! | #DETvsNJD
⏰: 1:00PM
📺: @FOXSportsDet
📻: @971theticketxyt pic.twitter.com/d9oKXHCvUy— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) November 17, 2018
Red Wings Projected Lines
Forwards
Darren Helm — Dylan Larkin — Anthony Mantha
Gustav Nyquist — Frans Nielsen — Andreas Athanasiou
Justin Abdelkader — Luke Glendening — Tyler Bertuzzi
Martin Frk — Jacob De La Rose — Michael Rasmussen
Defense
Trevor Daley — Mike Green
Niklas Kronwall — Dennis Cholowski
Danny DeKeyser — Nick Jensen
Goalies
Jimmy Howard
Jonathan Bernier
Devils Projected Lines
Forwards
Taylor Hall — Travis Zajac — Kyle Palmieri
Marcus Johansson — Pavel Zacha — Jesper Bratt
Blake Coleman — Brent Seney — Joey Anderson
Miles Wood — Jean-Sebastien Dea — Stefan Noesen
Defense
Mirco Mueller — Yegor Yakovlev*
Andy Greene — Damon Severson
Will Butcher — Ben Lovejoy
Goalies
Keith Kinkaid
Cory Schneider
Keys to the Game
Puck Possession
The last time these two teams met was a short while ago on Nov. 1 that saw the Wings slip past the Devils, 4-3. If the Wings want the same result, they will have to repeat the possession time. It all starts in the faceoff circle and in that game, the Wings won 59.3% of the draws, while finishing with a 52.3 CF% as a team — pretty strong numbers. Controlling the play will open up more scoring chances and this Wings team has been finding production from their Top 9 as of late, so the possession metrics will be a big contributor to their success today.
Play Aggressive
The Devils could be without one of their top scorers in Hischier for the third straight game — 12 points in 15 games — and they’ve had to rely on Zacha to fill his void on the second line. Zacha by the way is pointless in 12 games this season. Take the play to the Devils out of the gate and use your speed to force mistakes as their depth is lacking without the 19-year-old in the lineup.
