Red Wings vs. Oilers Gameday Updates, Line Combinations, Key Matchups
The Wings get ready for Edmonton tonight and have run through their practice in prep for the game. Diggers are confirming Howard and Talbot as your starters tonight.
Line Combinations
Forwards
| Justin Abdelkader | Henrik Zetterberg | Dylan Larkin |
| Tomas Tatar | Riley Sheahan | Gustav Nyquist |
| Brad Richards | Pavel Datsyuk | Teemu Pulkkinen |
| Drew Miller | Luke Glendening | Darren Helm |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Mike Green |
| Danny DeKeyser | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Alexey Marchenko | Brendan Smith |
Goaltenders
| Jimmy Howard |
| Petr Mrazek |
Power Play Units
- Tatar-Zetterberg-Nyquist-Abdelkader-Kronwall
- Pulkkinen-Datsyuk-Larkin-Richards-Green
Scratches: Jakub Kindl, Joakim Andersson, Tomas Jurco (still in Grand Rapids)
Injuries: Johan Franzen, Kyle Quincey
The Expected Oilers Lineup
Forwards
| Taylor Hall | Leon Draisaitl | Jordan Eberle |
| Lauri Korpikoski | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Teddy Purcell |
| Benoit Pouliot | Mark Letestu | Matt Hendricks |
| Luke Gazdic | Anton Lander | Iiro Pakarinen |
Defensemen
| Darnell Nurse | Andrej Sekera |
| Oscar Klefbom | Mark Fayne |
| Brandon Davidson | Eric Gryba |
Goaltenders
| Cam Talbot (starting) |
| Anders Nilsson |
Fun Facts!
Red Wings all-time record against Edmonton: 63-37-13-11
Red Wings goals for per game (GF/G) against the Oilers: 3.63
Red Wings goals against per game (GA/G) against the Oilers: 3.23
Let's Go Red Wings!!!
Key Match-ups
Power vs. Power
The Oilers are missing two key pieces at the top of their lineup in Connor McDavid and now Nail Yakupov. They've still got a bunch of talent up top with Hall, Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, and Draisatl, but the Wings have experience there. Detroit needs to play a smart game against speedy youngsters, and perhaps get another great game out of their own 19-year old phenom.
Wild Card Special Teams
Neither team is very good at special teams (except Detroit's penalty kill), so you'll get wildly different performances night in and night out. The Wings need to draw more penalties and take advantage of them, but have to keep Edmonton off the scoreboard with the recently very-effective PK.