The Detroit Red Wings are set to invade the Staples Center tonight and steal a road victory away from the L.A Kings.
The Detroit Red Wings will look to come away with back to back road victories while they take on the Kings in L.A and then the Ducks in Anaheim Monday. The Wings fell short in overtime during their home opener and game one of the 2018/19 season to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Detroit Red Wings will look to bounce back tonight in L.A. The Wings will again feature a young lineup especially on the back-end. The group of young defenders had a great showing in the loss Thursday night.
Dennis Cholowski scored a beautiful goal in his first career game. As a group they displayed the ability to carry the puck out of danger, often skating it out of their own zone rather than making an errant pass. The Wings could not glide out of trouble in years past; it has been a really positive sight early on in the season.
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Libor Sulak, Joe Hicketts and Filip Hronek all provided a strong showing. Niklas Kronwall is close to returning but like Jonathan Ericsson and Mike Green did not make the west coast trip with the team. Head coach Jeff Blashill has already suggested Nick Jensen could get a start over the two games. It looks like it will be tonight. It seems like an “old” Jeff Blashill type move.
Why would you make that comment until you see a youngster struggle? Blashill has shown early that he is willing to ride with the youngsters and then drops Jensen back in over Hicketts.
Detroit Red Wings Key Injuries: Niklas Kronwall (undisclosed), Jonathan Ericsson (Upper Body), Mike Green (Virus), Evgeny Svechnikov (undisclosed)
The Detroit Red Wings will lineup tonight:
Gustav Nyquist – Dylan Larkin – Anthony Mantha
Tyler Bertuzzi – Frans Nielsen – Michael Rasmussen
Justin Abdelkader – Andreas Athanasiou – Thomas Vanek
Darren Helm – Christoffer Ehn – Luke Glendening
Trevor Daley – Dennis Cholowski
Libor Sulak – Nick Jensen
Jonathan Bernier (Starting)
Scratches: Martin Frk, Joe Hicketts, Luke Witkowski
The Kings will line up like this tonight:
Alex Iafallo – Anze Kopitar – Ilya Kovalchuk
Tanner Pearson – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Austin Wagner – Adrian Kempe – Trevor Lewis
Jaret Anderson-Dolan – Michael Amadio – Nate Thompson
Dion Phaneuf Paul LaDue
Jack Campbell (Starting)
L.A Kings Scratches: Kyle Clifford, Oscar Frantenberg
L.A Kings Key Injuries: Dustin Brown (Hand), Gabriel Vilardi (Back), Jonny Brodzinski (Shoulder), Jonathan Quick (lower-body injury).
The Kings have many players to watch. Anze Kopitar is a terrific top center that may be one of the most underrated forwards in the league. He has top playmaking ability, along with being a dynamic scorer. He really does remind me of Henrik Zetterberg with his willingness to compete in the defensive zone. Kopitar is a tremendous two-way center.
The Kings have added stand out Ilya Kovalchuk to their top line. Kovalchuk still commands a dangerous shot. Kopitar will often create his own space in the offensive zone and look to connect on a cross-ice pass with intentions of a Kovy one-time opportunity.
Jeff Carter centers what they call the 70’s line (each of their numbers are 70 something) in L.A. This line comes out with energy and size. They play like a bottom line but have the ability to score like a top line. They can be a lot to handle and may cause havoc tonight against the inexperienced Wings.
The Kings still have Drew Doughty. One of the top defenders in the league. Doughty does everything well and will be the catalyst from the back end all evening. Athanasiou and company MUST get something going tonight against Dion Phaneuf and Paul LaDue if the Wings have any hope of winning tonight. Phaneuf can be exposed by the Wings speed.
The Wings luck out tonight standout goaltender Jonathan Quick injured himself in practice and will be unable to play. Jack Campbell the former Windsor Spitfire and Michigan native gets the start for the Kings.
Game Information:
- Detroit Red Wings 0-0-1 at Los Angeles Kings 0-0-1
- Time: 10:30 p.m EST
- Location: Staples Center
- TV: Fox Sports Detroit, Fox Sports West, Fox Sports Go, NHL.TV
- Radio: 97.1 The Ticket