The New Jersey Devils Invade LCA take on the Detroit Red Wings
By Bob Heyrman
The New Jersey Devils are invading Little Ceasers Arena tonight to take on the Detroit Red Wings. The Devils come to town and catch the Wings on a little bit of a roll.
The Detroit Red Wings have found themselves in the midst of a small hot streak after netting back to back wins against the Dallas Stars and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Wings will look to make it three in a row tonight against the regaining Hart Trophy winner (League MVP), Taylor Hall and his New Jersey Devils.
The Devils roll into town after getting pounded 8-3 by the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday evening. I’m sure they will be looking to take out some frustration on the young Detroit Red Wings. Dylan Larkin and company will have another agenda though looking to build on their short stint of success.
The Devils are top heavy, the majority of their damage comes from the top line. Nico Hischier plays between Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri. The trio has accounted for 34 points this season in 27 combined games. The scoring really drops off after the top line though. Travis Zajac is still a serviceable center but better suited as a third or fourth line center, not a second-liner where he has been playing. He is flanked by Marcus Johansson and Miles Wood.
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Success has been hard to come by for the Detroit Red Wings this season thus far. They matched the Dallas Stars intensity and prevailed. Tuesday night they jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first period connecting on a power-play goal (Rasmussen), short-handed goal (Larkin) and an even-strength goal (Mantha). All facets of the Wings game was rolling early.
The second period was a bit of an indicator of what was to come. The Jackets were all over the Wings but failed to score. The third was a much different story they Jackets stormed back and tied the game at three. It seemed the Wings took their foot off the gas peddle and it cost them the lead. Detroit Red Wings teams of the immediate past would have sulked and found a way to lose, but this young club found a way to rally during the adversity and notch the victory.
The team will be walking into their home rink tonight with a smile and some much-needed confidence. Expect them to be up to the test against the Devils tonight. The Red Wings won their last matchup 3-0 on January 22nd, 2018.
The projected Detroit Red Wings lineup;
Darren Helm – Dylan Larkin – Anthony Mantha
Justin Abdelkader – Luke Glendening – Tyler Bertuzzi
Gustav Nyquist – Jacob de La Rose – Michael Rasmussen
Luke Witkowski – Wade Megan – Martin Frk
Trevor Daley – Jonathan Ericsson
Injuries; Andreas Athanasiou (undisclosed), Frans Nielsen (undisclosed), Evgeny Svechnikov (knee), Danny DeKeyser (hand), Thomas Vanek (lower-body)
Notes; AA is expected to be out until next week. Vanek is expected to miss 2-4 weeks. DeKeyser and Nielsen are both expected to return Saturday.
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Game Information:
- Detroit Red Wings 3-7-2 vs. New Jersey Devils 5-3-1
- Time: 7:30 EST
- Location: Little Ceasars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
- TV: Fox Sports Detroit, MSG+, Fox Sports Go, NHL.TV
- Radio: 97.1 The Ticket