Game Day Updates
Jonathan Bernier in starter’s net for #RedWings
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) November 8, 2019
Based on Red Wings morning skate, looks like newcomer Robby Fabbri will play tonight on line with Valtteri Filppula & Andreas Athanasiou. Fabbri wearing no. 14.
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) November 8, 2019
#RedWongs lines at skate:
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha
Athanasiou-Nielsen-Fabbri
Perlini-Nielsen-Erne
Abdelkader-Ehn-Helm
Looks like Hirose (no goals, 5 assists in 18 games) is scratched tonight. pic.twitter.com/WYDv5l4Qkx— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) November 8, 2019
#RedWongs (also Khan means Filppula on that line, not Nielsen)
#RedWings defense pairs:
Nemeth-Hronek
Cholowski-McIlrath
Bowey-Green
Biega (extra)
Daley (lower body injury) is out.— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) November 8, 2019
Bruins practice, pre-Detroit:
Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
Cehlarik-Krejci-Heinen
Bjork-Coyle-Senyshyn
Wager-Kuraly-Ritchie
Nordstrom*, Lindholm*Chara-Clifton
Krug-Carlo
Grzelcyk-McAvoy
Kampfer-Miller*Rask
Halak*no contact
— Matt Porter (@mattyports) November 7, 2019
The Red Wings’ warmup jersey for Hockey Fights Cancer tonight, to be auctioned off online after the game pic.twitter.com/0Ne0CTj9U2
— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) November 8, 2019
Keys to the Game
1. Don’t allow 5 or more goals
Things are bad. It’s simple as that. During this 1-11-1 stretch for the Red Wings, they have allowed 5+ goals in 9 games (0-8-1 in those games). Going up against the best line in hockey tonight will make it even harder to keep pucks out of the net, but they have to figure it out if they want to win. With Nordstrom, DeBrusk and Backes out for Boston, it really comes down to containing that top line. Even if they get 2 goals, you just can’t allow anyone else on the score sheet for the B’s. However, with the way things have gone, that’s much easier said than done.
2. Finding Chemistry
With things as bad as possible for the Red Wings right now, keys to the game are going to be rather simple. Outside of when Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha play together, there really hasn’t been any good chemistry among the forwards. Athanasiou and Filppula have looked decent together lately, but with the constant line juggling (hey, Blash) it’s tough to see anyone consistently working well together. If Fabbri does play tonight, chemistry could be even harder to find with a new player in the lineup (although he played with Bertuzzi in Guelph back in their junior days). We need guys to start clicking so there’s at least some sort of positives to come out of these games.
3. Hold on to the Puck
Like I said, simple. The Red Wings have the 5th most giveaways in the NHL (204) and 2nd fewest takeaways (77) so far this year. You can blame it on talent all you want, but these are NHL players, turning it over this much can’t happen no matter how bad you are. While the Bruins aren’t necessarily the greatest when it comes to takeaways (they rank 10th with 121), teams who play Detroit know what to expect and up their forecheck because of this. Not to mention, if you giveaway the puck too many times against the Bruins top line, they usually make you pay. The Red Wings have to take care of the puck, it really all starts there in order to snap out of whatever these last 13 games are.
