Back home after a 5-1 loss in Game 2 of their Stanley Cup series with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Detroit Red Wings will shuffle the deck as they ready for Game 3 in the best-of-seven set Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena.
As was expected, left-winger Justin Abdelkader will return after missing six games due to a hand injury. A bit more surprisingly, defenseman Brendan Smith will return from his three-game residence in coach Mike Babcock’s doghouse to resume his position on the Detroit defense.
Smith was a healthy scratch for every game since his minor penalty for batting a puck still in play while seated on the bench cost Detroit a third-period lead and ultimately a 4-3 setback in Montreal.
Babcock was more concerned about what Smith can add to his team than he was about any lesson his enforced absence might have taught the defenseman.
“Smitty can really skate and competes,… explained Babcock. “I don’t think we’re skating good enough and I don’t think we’re competing hard enough. So there are two things (where Smith can help).…
The addition of Smith means that Alexey Marchenko, recalled from AHL Grand Rapids to take his spot in the lineup the past three games, will sit out Tuesday. It also led to a return to the club’s previous defensive pairings of Smith with Marek Zidlicky and Danny DeKeyser with Kyle Quincey. Only the Niklas Kronwall-Jonathan Ericsson tandem will remain intact for Game 3.
Up front, the Wings are hopeful that the grit and determination that Abdelkader utilized to produce a career-best 23-goal season will ignite a fire in their team.
“When you evaluate our team, we have a lot more to give,… Babcock said. “We’re two games in and we’re 1-1, and we have a lot more to give.
“The other thing is at the end of the year until now there was nine days or something for two games. Now you have to play. We need everyone on deck. We can’t be one on or one off. We need everyone onboard.
“Abby’s a competitor. He’s a guy that’s good at the net. He plays hard. He competes hard. I’m sure he’ll be ready to go.…
The return of Abdelkader also allows Babcock to play Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk on different lines. Zetterberg will work the middle between Abdelkader and Gustav Nyquist, while Datsyuk centers Darren Helm and Tomas Tatar.
“He plays in all situations,… Zetterberg said of Abdelkader. “He plays a lot of minutes. For me, he obviously plays a lot of minutes with me.
“When you have that speed, it’s going to be fun to play with him again.…
At practice Monday, Riley Sheahan between Joakim Andersson and Tomas Tatar and Luke Glendening with Landon Ferraro and Drew Miller were the other forward lines, meaning that Stephen Weiss would be scratched to make room for Abdelkader.
Home Ice Advantage? The wings talked proudly the edge they’d gain from playing the next two games of the series at Joe Louis Arena.
“It’s the best place to play in the playoffs, in front of your home fans,… Zetterberg said. “It’s loud. The energy is high.
“This is what you look forward to, playoff hockey at Joe Louis.…
Added Tatar: “We play at home now, we feel better. It’s going to be home advantage.
“The fans are ready, we are ready too. We are really looking forward to tomorrow.…
Maybe so, but it leads to an obvious question – if playing at the Joe is such a boon for Detroit, then why have the Wings lost three playoff games in a row on home ice?
With a chance to advance to the 2013 Western Conference final, the Wings fell 4-3 to the Chicago Blackhawks, eventually losing the second-round series in Game 7 at the United Centre.
Last season, the Wings were 0-2 on home-ice in their five-game opening-round loss to the Boston Bruins – dropping Game 3 by a 3-0 count and going down 3-2 in overtime in Game 4.
In the past five post-seasons, the Wings are 10-10 at the Joe.
Bounce Back Man One thing you have to give rookie goalie Petr Mrazek – he doesn’t stay down for long.
When he gave way to Jimmy Howard for the third period of Game 2 down 4-0, it was the fifth time this season that Mrazek was lifted from a game.
On the previous four occasions, in his next game Mrazek has a combined record of 3-0-1 with a 1.71 goals-against average and .949 save percentage.
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