Red Wings vs. Flyers Gameday Updates, Line Combinations, Key Matchups

J.J. FromKansas

• 3 min read Front Page

Kind of a big game tonight. Both Joseph and Edubbnaz have ideas in our Fanposts about what the Wings need to do to accomplish a victory tonight. Jimmy's your starter for this one. No idea what that means for tomorrow, but who cares about that? We've got a game tonight to focus on.

The diggers also reported that Tomas Jurco will slot in for Anthony Mantha on the fourth line tonight, but we've yet to learn why. It looks like Sheahan will take over the net-front duties on the 2nd power play unit. You want clarity on why this switch was made. LET'S GET ENLIGHTENED

Oh

You got that Jurco? Blashill wants you to jump out a window.

In all seriousness, Wakiji had a few other qutoes from Blashill talking about how happy he's been with Jurco working in practice and earning this opportunity. It's a real nice non-answer about why exactly Jurco is replacing Mantha though. Mantha worked late with Smith in practice; that doesn't necessarily mean that sickness or injury are out of the question, but it sure does seem like Blashill just likes what he sees from Jurco more than what he's seen from Mantha lately.

Line Combinations

Forwards

Justin Abdelkader Henrik Zetterberg Dylan Larkin
Darren Helm Pavel Datsyuk Brad Richards
Tomas Tatar Riley Sheahan Gustav Nyquist
Andreas Athanasiou Luke Glendening Tomas Jurco


Defensemen

Danny DeKeyser Kyle Quincey
Niklas Kronwall Alexey Marchenko
Jonathan Ericsson Mike Green


Goaltenders

Jimmy Howard (starting)
Petr Mrazek

Power Play units:

  1. Nyquist-Zetterberg-Larkin, Abdelkader (net front), Kronwall
  2. Tatar-Datsyuk-Sheahan (net front), Richards, Green

Flyers Line Combinations

Forwards

Brayden Schenn Claude Giroux Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl Sean Couturier Jakub Voracek
Matt Read Nick Cousins Sam Gagner
Chris VandeVelde Pierre-Edouard Bellemare Ryan White


Defensemen

Nick Schultz Mark Streit
Brandon Manning Shayne Gostisbehere
Yevgeni Medvedev Radko Gudas


Goaltenders

Steve Mason (starting)
Anthony Stolarz

Key Matchups:

Desperation vs Discipline

There's a real fine line between playing scared and using that same fear of failure to motivate something better out of yourself. Both teams are going to be walking that line tonight and the one that controls it better is very likely to be the one that wins this game. Detroit has that veteran presence that should know how to walk the line well, but I think the kids are going to be key. If the leaders on the team can guide them, Detroit should be in good shape by tonight's end.

Quincey, Marchenko & Ericsson versus Philly's big forwards

This sounds like a bloodbath waiting to happen, but Simmonds and Voracek are both big-bodied guys while Quincey, Marchenko and Ericsson are the defenders likely to be tasked with trying to neutralize them around the net. We don't necessarily need wrestling matches out there, but we need the big guys to use their size wisely. Simmonds' size isn't what makes him so hard to clear out of the front of the net as much as it's how well he balances it on the ice. the lanes have to stay clear. Also, Simmonds is a hot-head, so I wouldn't exactly mind some post-whistle extracurriculars to see if we can't get him sent to the box a few times.

Fun Facts!