GAME DAY Red Wings (9-6-7) v. Hurricanes (8-9-4) 7:30pm, FS-D
The Red Wings look for their first win since November 2nd and their first win at The Joe in over a month. The Hurricanes have dropped their last two games and are 4-5-1 over their last 10 games.
The Wings were held scoreless against the Predators on Tuesday night but also lost top pairing d-man, Danny DeKeyser to a shoulder injury. DeKeyser was placed on the LTIR Wednesday and will be out of the line up until at least December 10th.
The opposition limited chances and Preds rookie goalie Marek Mazanec wasn’t tested all that much to earn the shutout.
RED WINGS OUTLOOK
It’s gut check time for the Wings. With DeKeyser now joining Stephen Weiss and Daniel Alfredsson on the list of difference makers sidelined with injury, the Wings have to pull together to battle for a win.
Secondary scoring has been improving as of late but has been an issue since the start of the season and will become even more important now. The Wings won’t be able to rely on the Zetterburg – Datsyuk duo tonight, as they will be separated to balance out the top two lines.
While the decision to put Dan Cleary on the top line may leave some scratching their heads, the second line of Franzen – Zetterberg – Nyquist should be exciting to watch. Jonathan Ericsson will join Niklas Kronwall on the top defensive pairing.
Nyquist will finally make the trip from Grand Rapids to Detroit. Nyquist leads the Wings’ AHL affiliate with 21 points in 15 games (7G, 14A). A salary cap squeeze has kept the highly skilled Swede in Grand Rapids up until this point in the season. Nyquist should also see some powerplay time tonight.
HURRICANES OUTLOOK
The Canes come to The Joe as the 29th worst scoring team in the league. They haven’t scored more than two goals in a game since October 19th and average a paltry 1.86 goals per game. The Canes are fifth in the Metropolitan and own the worst goal differential in the division (-19). So far this year the team is 3-5-0 on the road.
Special Teams for the Hurricanes are an issue. They are 26th in PP% (12.5%) and 21st in PK% (79.7). To have success against the Red Wings they will need to stay out of the box and capitalize on any man advantages.
Jeff Skinner will return to the lineup after missing 11 games with an upper body injury. Skinner had 9 points in 10 games prior to being injured and should help to solve the Hurricanes’ scoring woes.
Sniper Alexander Semin will be out of the line up as he was put on the LTIR with a concussion on Tuesday.
RED WINGS PROJECTED LINES
Cleary – Datsyuk – Bertuzzi Franzen – Zetterburg – Nyquist Tatar –Helm – Abdelkader Miller – Andersson – Samuelsson
Kronwall – Ericsson Quincey – Kindl Lashoff – Smith
Jimmy Howard (starting) Jonas Gustavsson
Injuries: Alfredsson (groin), Weiss (groin), DeKeyser (shoulder)
CAROLINA PROJECTED LINES
Tlusty – Eric Staal – Skinner Gerbe – Jordan Staal – Dwyer Terry – Nash – Ruutu Bowman – Malholtra – Dvorak
Faulk – Seykera Bellemore – Hainsey Murphy – Gleason
Cam Ward (starting) Justin Peters
Injuries: Khudobin (lower body), Semin (Concussion), Pitkanen (Heel)
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