It feels like it was not long ago that Barry Trotz was working magic behind the bench of a budget friendly Predators team. The tandem of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter were on for half the game or more, and Pekka Rinne was absolutely lights out. The Nashville based commentators complained of too many 2-1 games. Not enough offense. How things have changed.
Nashville sits second in the league in Goals scored at 54 in fourteen games. They sit 18th in goals against at 41 for a goal differential of 13. Detroit sits 28th at goals for with 33 and is tied for last place with 57 goals allowed. A differential of -24. That may be the only stat needed for tonight’s tilt.
Nashville has had some difficulty of late. A bizarre comeback overtime win by Calgary with Matthew Tkachuck’s jaw dropping game winner for a 6-5 final. Also a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers. No matter how good a team is, no one wins 82 games. However, Detroit doesn’t have the goal scoring right now to overcome a 4 or 5 goal deficit (shy of another Mantha 4 goal nights) and the goaltending hasn’t been closing the door lately. Here again is a game in which the Red Wings have no discernible edge over the opponent. An all too familiar theme.
Still, never bet on hockey. A goalie can get hot, a high scoring offense can go cold. Someone (Athanasiou) can break out of a slump and put a couple in. This is not a comforting pre game speech, but it is reality. To win, the Red Wings have to change the conversation and change the momentum. The defense has to lock down, the offense has to get fired up. It is a game like this in which you hope to see the potential of this rebuild break through for the night.
Here’s the good news. The Red Wings have posted a re-united LARMANZZI line for tonight’s tilt. That could certainly spark some offense. Ernie-Filppula-Athanasiou make up the second line. Perlini-Nielsen-Hirose the third and Helm has been demoted to the 4th line with de la Rose and Abdelkader. For the defense - Nemeth and Hronek, Bowey and Hicketts (this could be an interesting pairing) and Biega with Cholowski. Daley and Green both injured along with Dekeyser and Glendening.
I like that the coaching staff put Hicketts with Bowey. Hicketts can skate fast enough to cover ground in case of an over aggressive forecheck. Biega and Cholowski could also be an improvement. Howard in net.
The “what ifs… will have to lead the way tonight to bring home 2 points. Let’s see how they do.
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