The Detroit Red Wings will return home for a matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes tonight. The Red Wings just finished up a four-game road trip against the Dallas Stars, a game they lost in overtime 3-2. The Wings got goals from Dylan Larkin and David Perron. They finished the four-game road trip with a 2-1-1 record and a much-needed 5 points against some very good teams. Now let’s look at how they’ll line up tonight against the Hurricanes.
Detroit Red Wings vs. Carolina Hurricanes Lines
Offense
The offensive lines heading into tonight are:
- David Perron-Dylan Larkin-Lucas Raymond
- Dominik Kubalik-Michael Rasmussen-Pius Suter
- Adam Erne-Andrew Copp-Oskar Sundqvist
- Jonatan Berggren-Joe Veleno-Austin Czarnik
There is no change again from Saturday night with the forward lines. The first line provided the only scoring the other night, in this one the Wings will need all the lines to contribute. Pius Suter has to get going for the Red Wings as he has not recorded a single point in the last five games and has an overall plus/minus of -3.
The hottest lines, over the last five games for the Red Wings, has been the first and fourth lines, combing for a total of 15 points. The two hottest players are David Perron and Jonatan Berggren. Perron has two goals and two assists while Berggren has recorded two goals and an assist.
Defense
The defensive lines for tonight’s game:
- Ben Chiarot-Moritz Seider
- Jake Walman-Filip Hronek
- Jordan Oesterle-Gustav Lindstrom
Derek LaLonde said this morning that Olli Maatta will be out today and tomorrow with an Illness, but it was not Covid related. Hopefully, he should be back this weekend. Tonight’s lines look like they will stay the same as Saturday.
Ben Chiarot and Moritz Seider both got on the scorecard in Saturday’s loss, assisting on David Perron’s goal. Filip Hronek has still been the hottest player on the defensive side of the puck with four assists in the last five games. I’d like to see Gustav Lindstrom finish as a plus in tonight’s game, which would be a step in the right direction for him as he has been a -8 this season.
Special Teams
Power Play
On Saturday, the Red Wings went 0/2 on the man advantage. This season the Red Wings’ power play ranks tied for 21st in the league, scoring 21 goals on 98 opportunities for a 21.4% scoring rate. Most of those goals are from the first group as they have scored 14 of those goals, with seven goals also coming from the second unit.
Penalty Kill
In Saturday’s loss, the Red Wings allowed a goal on the PK but managed to go 1/4. The Wings have scored two shorthanded goals this season on the Penalty Kill. The PK unit ranks 14th in the league in killing the power play of their opponents allowing only 16 goals out of the 78 opportunities for a percentage of 79.5%.
Goaltending
The starting goalie tonight will be Ville Husso who has become the Red Wings’ number-one goalie after such a great start to the season. Husso appeared in Saturday’s game in which he stopped 30 of the 33 shots he saw, the overtime goal was not his fault either as he got hung out to dry on that play.
Husso posts an 11-4-4 record with a 2.56 Goals Against Average and a .916 save percentage. The backup is set to be Alex Nedeljkovic.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN to the Detroit Red Wings vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Where: Little Cesar’s Arena in Detroit
TV: Bally Sports
Radio: 97.1 (Red Wings’ radio affiliates)
Wrap Up
The tough stretch continues tonight for the Red Wings going up against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes are currently sitting in third place in the Metropolitan Division and the Hurricanes also have the fifth most points in the Eastern Conference. The Red Wings are currently sitting on the outside of the playoff picture two points behind the New York Islanders for the final playoff spot and they sit three points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for third place in the Atlantic Division. With Ville Husso in the net tonight, I have all the faith in the world in this team to pull this one out. Â Â
