Jakub Vrana and the Detroit Red Wings will wrap up their five-game road trip heading to Washington to take on the Capitals with puck drop set for 7:00 PM tonight. This is Detroit’s third and final matchup against the Capitals this season, with the Red Wings winning the first one 3-1 in Detroit and dropping the second one 4-3 in overtime in Washington.
Tonight’s Red Wings player to watch: Jakub Vrana
Jakub Vrana will return for the Red Wings tonight, taking on his former team, the Washington Capitals. Washington drafted Vrana 13th overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. He appeared in 284 games over five seasons, with the Capitals scoring 76 goals and 81 assists for 157 points before being traded to Detroit for Anthony Mantha. Since joining the Red Wings, Jakub Vrana has played in 39 games over three seasons scoring 22 goals and ten assists for 32 points.
This season Jakub Vrana appeared in two games scoring a goal and an assist for two points. Vrana would then enter the NHLPA’s assistance program before coming back and playing in Grand Rapids, where they caught fire, scoring six goals and four assists for ten points in his final nine games before being called up.
Vrana will slide into the lineup and is listed as playing with Pius Suter and Oskar Sundqvist. That may change come game time, depending on if head coach Derek LaLonde wants to slide this goal scorer up to one of the top lines.
Vrana’s numbers against the Capitals
In Vrana’s three seasons with the Red Wings, he has never matched up against his former team, making his return to the lineup even more special as he looks to notch his first career points against Washington.
Wrap Up
This has been a great road trip to this point for the Red Wings, going 3-1-0 and picking up six points before the final game tonight, and they are back in the playoff mix. After a tough loss Saturday night to Seattle, it will make tonight’s matchup with the Capitals one of the season's biggest games for the Red Wings up to this point.
The Capitals are one of the three teams ahead of the Red Wings in the standings fighting for one of the two wild-card spots, and they will be without their superstar Alexander Ovechkin tonight. With a win tonight, the Red Wings will be two points behind the Panthers and three points behind the Islanders with four games in hand.
