Line Combinations
Red Wings Lineup (Confirmed)
Forwards
| Justin Abdelkader | Henrik Zetterberg | Dylan Larkin |
| Tomas Tatar | Brad Richards | Gustav Nyquist |
| Johan Franzen | Riley Sheahan | Teemu Pulkkinen |
| Drew Miller | Luke Glendening | Landon Ferraro |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Kyle Quincey | Mike Green |
| Brendan Smith | Jakub Kindl |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek (starting) |
| Jimmy Howard |
Scratches: Alexey Marchenko, Joakim Andersson, Tomas Jurco
Injuries: Pavel Datsyuk, Darren Helm
No-Man’s Land: Daniel Cleary (he has been waived, but he isn’t in Grand Rapids, so…?)
Power Play Units:
Hurricanes Lineup (Confirmed)
Forwards
| Eric Staal | Victor Rask | Elias Lindholm |
| Nathan Gerbe | Jordan Staal | Kris Versteeg |
| Jeff Skinner | Riley Nash | Chris Terry |
| Joakim Nordstrom | Jay McClement | Andrej Nestrasil |
Defensemen
| Ron Hainsey | Justin Faulk |
| John-Michael Liles | Michal Jordan |
| Noah Hanifin | Ryan Murphy |
Goaltenders
| Cam Ward (Starting) |
| Eddie Lack |
Players to Watch:
For Detroit:
I have a feeling the players to watch tonight will be Gustav Nyquist, and Tomas Tatar. They had strong games last night, but failed to produce any points.
Additionally, we saw the first sample of defenseman Mike Green last night. He posted one assist, and saw over 20 minutes of TOI. His partner, Kyle Quincey, also looked pretty sharp. I think both players are due for another efficient, puck-moving game.
For Carolina:
Big fan of Jeff Skinner. He’s a pure goal-scorer, and can seemingly make goals happen with very little space. His linemate Victor Rask is also a very prominent player who is coming off of a successful rookie season. The third line will have it’s hands full this evening.
Key Match-ups:
The obvious choice here is the top-six. Detroit has a favorable situation with their top line who came out guns blazing last night to score all four goals. Carolina’s top line isn’t bad, but I think it’s lesser competition than what the Leafs had out there before Babcock fired up his blender.
- Another favorable match-up? Goalies. Carolina will be starting Cam Ward, who is a goalie trying to find his traction again. Detroit counters with 23-year-old Petr Mrazek, who had an impressive outing in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It will be Petr’s first start of the season, so we’ll see how he reacts.
