Detroit Red Wings better be ready for a spirited contest tonight
By Bob Heyrman
The previous meeting took place in Detroit, where the Islanders skated to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
It was a very entertaining contest which saw a few fights and Andres Lee getting Kronwalled. The fact of the matter is the Detroit Red Wings lost, and with the injuries starting to mount losses have a chance to pile on one another moving forward unless someone steps up.
Nicklas Kronwall can only shoulder so much; he’s merely the player he once was. A good leader and still good for 18 or so minutes a night but not 22/24 plus that Mike Green ate up each and every night for this team.
Nick Jensen has been a minutes eater for the Wings but has so many limitations offensively. He has thrived as a shot blocker and will be forced to continue to play significant minutes for this Detroit Red Wings team.
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Dennis Cholowski will be asked to play in many more critical situations as he once did early on in the season. When the Wings opened the season minus nearly every veteran defenseman, Cholo played top pairing minutes and was reasonably successful. He started to falter some as time went on particularly in his own zone identifying in zone coverage. He will be elevated over the next month; he will also be the catalyst on the top power-play unit, which has struggled mightily since Anthony Mantha has been injured.
The previous meeting between these two clubs saw Abby scrap with big defenceman Johnny Boychuk, and for the record bloodied Abby enough that he needed to miss a few shifts to get some work done on his face.
The Kronwall hit was a typical blast that saw Lee looking at his feet rather than the oncoming train. The blow knocked Lee out of the game and left him dazed. The Islanders captain needed stitches on both his eyebrow and lip to close up wounds.
The game was just merely a week ago, Josh Bailey and Dylan Larkin exchanged blows. It was anything but a quiet night. I do expect the Islanders to try and outmuscle the Wings tonight as they have a score to settle after their captain was blasted. Tonight should be a spirited contest and an interesting one to watch. If I am Jeff Blashill, I dress Luke Witkowski as the 7th D man and roll 11 forwards.
The fact that Christoffer Ehn is skating on the second line disturbs me. The Wings have much better options in Grand Rapids for a top-six forward. Jeff Blashill at the very least should move Bert up with AA and Frans. If he is not willing to do that consider Rasmussen.
Bernie gets the nod tonight after Howie played yesterday. Captain hook came for Jon in his last start in Washington, he will look to rebound tonight.
The Detroit Red Wings projected lineup;
Justin Abdelkader (A) – Dylan Larkin (A) – Gustav Nyquist
Andreas Athanasiou – Frans Nielsen (A) –Christoffer Ehn
Michael Rasmussen – Luke Glendening – Tyler Bertuzzi
Thomas Vanek – Jacob de La Rose – Martin Frk
Dennis Cholowski – Trevor Daley
Nicklas Kronwall (A) – Nick Jensen
Jonathan Ericsson – Filip Hronek
Injures; Anthony Mantha ( Hand), Darren Helm ( Upper-body), Danny DeKeyser (hand), Evgeny Svechnikov (knee) Mike Green (lower-body)
Next. Potential 30 Goal achievers for the Detroit Red Wings. dark
Game Information:
Detroit Red Wings 14-15-4 vs. New York Islanders 14-12-4
Time: 7:00 EST
Location: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
TV: Fox Sports Detroit Plus, MSG+, Fox Sports Go, NHL.TV, ESPN+
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
OddsShark Odds- Fav. Islanders -220
Head to Head last 10- Islanders 5-4-1