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Tonight the Detroit Red Wings welcome in the St. Louis Blues to wrap up a home-and-home series with puck drop set for 7:00 PM. This is the Red Wings’ final matchup against the Blues this season having won the first one on Tuesday night 3-2 in a shootout.
Detroit Red Wings (31-30-9) vs. St. Louis Blues (31-33-6)
When: Thursday, March 23
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Little Cesar’s Arena (Detroit, MI)
Channel: Bally Sports Detroit
Red Wings vs. Blues Scoring Leaders
Why it matters
Tonight is Jakub Vrana’s return to Detroit for the first time since being traded on March 3rd. Since being traded, Vrana has played in eight games scoring five goals and adding an assist. When Vrana first got traded to Detroit back in 2021, he would score five goals and added an assist in his first four games. Besides tonight being Vrana’s return to Detroit it will also be Nick Leddy’s first game back in Detroit since he was traded last season for Oskar Sundqvist and Jake Walman.
The Red Wings will once again turn to Magnus Hellberg in the net. Ville Husso was supposed to get the start tonight, but he is out with a lower-body injury. With Husso out, the Red Wings called up Alex Nedeljkovic from Grand Rapids who will serve as the backup. With Husso out, he will not face his former team at all this season. Hellberg has been a solid backup for the Red Wings; in his last two starts he is 1-1-0, and in that loss, he kept the Red Wings in the game against one of the best teams in the league in the Bruins. Hellberg, over those two games, faced 60 shots and stopped 55 of them.
Detroit Red Wings vs. St. Louis Blues by the numbers
Tonight’s Red Wings player to watch: David Perron
Keeping the trend of players going up against their former team, David Perron has had three different stints with the Blues. The St. Louis Blues drafted Perron 26th overall in the 2007 NHL Draft. Perron went to Edmonton after the 2013 season and return to St. Louis for the 2016-17 season. Following that season, Perron was taken by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft. Then, he once again signed with the Blues in 2018-19 where he went on to win a Stanley Cup.
This offseason Perron signed with the Red Wings where he’s played in all 70 of the Red Wings games, scoring 16 goals and adding 27 assists. In his last three games, he’s had two points with both points coming off assists. What stats can’t show is the veteran presence he has brought to this team throughout the season.
- Perron ranks third on the team in goals.
- Perron ranks fourth on the team in assists.
- Perron ranks second on the team in points.
Line shifts for Perron tonight vs. the Blues
He’s expected to play on the second line tonight with Andrew Copp and Dominik Kubalik and will also play on the first power-play unit with Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Alex Chiasson, and Moritz Seider.
- Perron has four power-play goals, and 15 power-play assists this season.
- Perron has 75 power-play goals, and 146 power-play assists in his career.
Perron’s career vs. St. Louis
Perron has played in 11 games over his career against his former team and has scored two goals and added five assists throughout those games. On Tuesday night against the Blues, Perron tallied an assist in the Red Wings’ win.
Wrap Up
Last night the Pittsburgh Penguins picked up two points and moved back into the final wild-card spot, they lead the Red Wings by nine points. The Penguins also play tonight and if they can lose in regulation while the Red Wings pick up two points it could help Detroit still have a chance to make the playoffs.
Now there are other teams in the way of Detroit for that final playoff spot, however: Pittsburgh being the team that sits in their way benefits the Red Wings the most. Detroit has a game in hand over the Penguins and has two games remaining against them, so the Red Wings still really have a chance to sneak into the playoffs, even with their recent slide.
Yes, the schedule is not easy so let’s just say if they want to find a way to sneak in then the playoffs do start tonight against the Blues, and this is a much-needed two points.
What is the Detroit Red Wings’ schedule?
Remaining Detroit Red Wings Schedule:
