The Detroit Red Wings will return home to take on the Ottawa Senators for a matinee matchup this afternoon. The Red Wings are coming off a tough loss to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night, a game in which the Red Wings lost 4-1. Elmer Soderblom scored the only goal against the Wild in his first game back in the Wings lineup. Let’s see how they’ll lineup against the Senators today.
Red Wings expected lines vs. Senators:
Offense
David Perron-Michael Rasmussen-Jonatan Berggren
Adam Erne-Andrew Copp-Lucas Raymond
Dominik Kubalik-Joe Veleno-Austin Czarnik
Elmer Soderblom-Pius Suter-Oskar Sundqvist
The lines may change prior to puck drop as there is a chance Dylan Larkin could play today, but that will be a game-time decision. Jonatan Berggren has colled of in the last three games, so seeing him moved to the top line with Michael Rasmussen and David Perron is a move that could get him back on track.
As for the third line Joe Veleno and Austin Czarnik have been playing well together, generating scoring chances and now will play with Dominik Kubalik who is second on the team in points with 25. This could be a solid lineup to see the Red Wings score some goals.
Defense
Ben Chiarot-Moritz Seider
Jake Walman-Filip Hronek
Jordan Oesterle-Olli Maatta
Olli Maatta and Filip Hronek look to make their return to the lineup today but that will be a decision that comes after warmups. Both practiced yesterday and Derek LaLonde sounded optimistic that Hronek would play but for Maatta he is coming back from having pneumonia so he is 50/50 to play today. That pairing of Hronek and Maatta has been solid for the Wings all year as they are combined for 34 points this season and a combined +22.
Jake Walman played alongside Moritz Seider after the Hronek injury on Wednesday and both played one of their best games this season, let’s see even though they aren’t paired together for this one if that momentum can carry over to today’s game. It sounds like Gustav Lindstrom is a healthy scratch today.
Special Teams
Power Play
On Wednesday the Red Wings once again went 0/3 on the man advantage. After not scoring a power-play goal in the last three games the Red Wings’ power play has dropped and now ranks 24th in the league with a 20.2% scoring rate, scoring 21 goals on 104 opportunities.
Penalty Kill
The Red Wings again allowed a goal on the PK for the third consecutive game. They held the Wild to one goal on four chances. The Red Wings have scored two shorthanded goals this season on the Penalty Kill, with Larkin and Suter scoring the goals. The PK unit ranks 18th in the league in killing the power play of their opponents, allowing 18 goals out of the 84 opportunities for a percentage of 78.6%.
Goaltending
The starting goalie for today’s game will be Ville Husso who is making his 21st start of the year. Husso posts a 11-5-4 record this season with a 2.48 Goals Against Average and a .918 save percentage. Husso’s last start came against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, a game in which he allowed only one goal and stopped 26 of the 27 shots he saw and took a 1-0 loss.
Alex Nedeljkovic is slated to be his backup after he did not dress in Wednesday’s game against the Wild. Nedeljkovic has not played since December 8th when he took a loss to the Florida Panther by a score of 5-1.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN – Detroit Red Wings vs. Ottawa Senators
Where: Little Cesar’s Arena in Detroit
TV: Bally Sports
Radio: 97.1 (Detroit Red Wings affiliates)
Wrap Up
Entering this one the Red Wings have gone 1-3-1 in their last five. Not a good stretch for a team that was in a wild card spot and fighting for third place in the division only a few weeks ago. With today’s matchup against the Senators it presents the Red Wings a chance to right the ship as the Senators are currently in last place of the Atlantic Division and sit in 14th in the Eastern Conference four points back of the Red Wings. The Red Wings will face the Senators three times over the next 14 days.
If this team can just hang on for a few more week it sounds like they will be getting some reinforcements on offense with Robby Fabbri and Jakub Vrana returning to practice this week. Fabbri is on pace to be back January 4th while Derek LaLonde said they will go slow with Vrana and make sure he is game ready so expect him back a few weeks into January or early February. All eyes are full speed ahead for this must win matchup against the Senators today.
