Detroit Red Wings look to make it Four Straight Wins Tonight

DETROIT, MI - NOVEMBER 22: Cam Talbot #33 of the Edmonton Oilers makes a save as Darren Helm #43 of the Detroit Red Wings skates after the loose puck during an NHL game at Little Caesars Arena on November 22, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. The Oilers defeated the Red Wings 6-2. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - NOVEMBER 22: Cam Talbot #33 of the Edmonton Oilers makes a save as Darren Helm #43 of the Detroit Red Wings skates after the loose puck during an NHL game at Little Caesars Arena on November 22, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. The Oilers defeated the Red Wings 6-2. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Detroit Red Wings have been playing exceptionally well of late and will try to keep things rolling tonight at home against the Edmonton Oilers.

The Detroit Red Wings lead the series over the last ten meetings.  The Wings are 6-4-0 in the previous ten games against the Oilers. During the last ten meetings, the Wings have held the Oilers goal scoring average to nearly 2 goals a game.

The Detroit Red Wings are coming off a victory against the New Jersey Devils where they scored twice on the power-play and twice short-handed.  The Wings power-play has been fantastic to this point in the season.  They are ranked 9th on the PP in the league.  They are converting 26.2% of the time.  The PK has been as good.  They are 9th in the league as well at 80.8%.

If the Detroit Red Wings could figure out some things five on five, they would be surprisingly better than expected.  Their play at even strength at times has been horrible.  They give up too many goals and don’t score enough while playing at even strength.  The special teams are outstanding but they rank 27th in the league playing even.  The Wings have struggled all season keeping sustained pressure in the offensive zone.  They did a much better job of that Thursday night against NJ.  Look for the group to feel encouraged and continue to hound the puck in Edmonton’s zone tonight.

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The Wings have been great in the faceoff circle this season.  Night in and night out the Wings are winning more faceoffs than they are losing.  It is always much better to start with the puck on your stick rather than chasing from the get-go.

The Oilers come into Detroit with a 7-4-1 record and coming off a shutout win (4-0) in Chicago Thursday night.  Back up goaltender Mikko Koskinen made 40 saves and has earned himself back to back starts.  He has been great in his only two starts of the season, winning both starts and posting video game numbers in a small sample size.  A 955% save percentage and 1.51 goals against average. A weird fact — Koskinen wears number 19 as a goaltender.  Can’t say that I’ve ever seen that before, have you?

The Detroit Red Wings projected lineup;

Darren HelmDylan Larkin (A) – Anthony Mantha

Gustav NyquistJacob de La RoseMichael Rasmussen

Justin Abdelkader (A) – Luke GlendeningTyler Bertuzzi

Luke WitkowskiWade MeganMartin Frk

Dennis CholowskiMike Green

Niklas Kronwall (A) – Nick Jensen

Danny DeKeyserTrevor Daley

Jimmy Howard

Jonathan Bernier

Injury Notes: We won’t have to worry about the Oilers speeding around Jonathan Ericsson tonight because he has been sidelined again with a minor injury.  Frans Nielsen would have been a good option to play head to head with McDavid, although he is close to returning he won’t be ready to go tonight.  Andreas Athanasiou will be out until sometime next week, and Vanek is out 2-4 weeks.

Next. Roundtable Discussion of Jeff Blashill. dark

Game Information:

  • Detroit Red Wings 4-7-2 vs. Edmonton Oilers 7-4-1
  • Time: 7:00 EST
  • Location: Little Ceasars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
  • TV: Fox Sports Detroit, Sportsnet, Fox Sports Go, NHL.TV
  • Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
  • OddsShark Odds- Edm -145