Red Wings vs. Canucks Gameday Updates, Line Combinations, Key Matchups
Red Wings Expected Lineups
Forwards
| Dylan Larkin | Henrik Zetterberg | Justin Abdelkader |
| Darren Helm | Pavel Datsyuk | Brad Richards |
| Gustav Nyquist | Riley Sheahan | Tomas Tatar |
| Joakim Andersson | Luke Glendening | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Mike Green |
| Danny DeKeyser | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Brendan Smith | Alexey Marchenko |
Goaltenders
| Jimmy Howard (starting) |
| Petr Mrazek |
Scratches: Jakub Kindl
Injuries: Drew Miller (jaw), Teemu Pulkkinen (shoulder), Johan Franzen (concussion), Kyle Quincey (ankle)
Canucks Expected Lineup
Forwards
| Daniel Sedin | Rando Standin | Alexandre Burrows |
| Chris Higgins | Jared McCann | Jannik Hansen |
| Sven Baertschi | Bo Horvat | Radim Vrbata |
| Brandon Prust | Adam Cracknell | Derek Dorsett |
Defensemen
| Alexander Edler | Chris Tanev |
| Ben Hutton | Yannick Weber |
| Matt Bartkowski | Alex Biega |
Goaltenders
| Ryan Miller (starting) |
| Jacob Markstrom |
As a note on the Canucks' forward lines, all we've been able to gather to this point is that Vancouver will be recalling a player from Utica, but since they played last night and didn't skate this morning, we have no updates on their line combinations. NHL.com listed Ronalds Kenins and Andrey Pedan as the two healthy scratches last night, so it's likely the only one of those two who plays forward (Kenins) will be in the lineup, but not likely he'll take up space on the top line.
In looking at Naturalstattrick.com's game report from last night, Daniel Sedin's two most-common linemates at even strength other than Henrik were Alex Burrows and Bo Horvat. However, Horvat saw more even-strength time with Vrbata and Baetschi.
If we get line combination information prior to tonight, we'll share it as soon as we can.
Update:
#Canucks recall Linden Vey from the @UticaComets. RELEASE → https://t.co/x0fhkEFh3y pic.twitter.com/JITRqAiEeb
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) December 18, 2015 Vey plays center, so he'll likely slot in instead of Kenins
Key Match-Ups
Red Wings PP vs. Vancouver PK
The Canuck's PK isn't very good, but neither is Detroit's power play. Detroit has to do a better job of creating controlled zone entries and getting set up. I don't care about peppering their goal with shots while on the man advantage as much as I care about the setup creating the kinds of real high-quality chances their setup is supposed to create.
Depth vs. Depth
Detroit's lower lines need to feast on Vancouver's. I like the power-vs-power matchup too for the Wings, but I really want to see Detroit's depth shine in this game.
Alex Burrows vs. Being a Good Person
At some point, you hope the guy gets visited by a number of ghosts. Not necessarily ghosts that are interested in teaching him a lesson in how to stop being a dirtbag. I'd be ok if it were the kind of ghosts who just beat people up. Do they have that kind of ghost?