Detroit Red Wings: Jake Muzzin makes Leafs debut on Red Kelly night
By Bob Heyrman
It’s Red Kelly night in Motown as Detroit Red Wings host the powerhouse Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at Little Caesars Arena. Puck drop is expected to be around 7:30 PM.
If you are going to the game tonight be sure to show up early. The ceremony scheduled to take place prior to the game is expected to start by 7 PM. The Detroit Red Wings are hoisting Red Kelly‘s number 4 to the rafters where it will be suspended for eternity. It will sway alongside the other Red Wing greats that have had the honor to see their jersey’s retired by the historic franchise.
After the much needed nine-day break which included the All-Star break, the Wings are back at it. I could name probably 28 other teams we’d rather play at this point, but it is what it is. The Toronto Maple Leafs made a deal to acquire Jake Muzzin from the Los Angeles Kings. The Leafs sent the Kings their first round pick along with a pair of prospects in exchange for Jake Muzzin. Muzzin will make his Leafs debut tonight in Detroit.
Muzzin will play as a top pairing defender, a much-needed boost to the Toronto back-end. He will help provide stability to the Leafs blueline. As a group they were average, the addition of Muzzin elevates the Leafs defense corps to an above average group.
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Norris Trophy candidate Morgan Rielly won’t need to carry the load, it can be spread throughout, it’s amazing how one player can change the group. Travis Dermott & Jake Gardiner who is expected to become an unrestricted free agent at seasons’ end, becomes the Leafs number three & four defenders. Gardiner is a defenseman the Detroit Red Wings should target come July,1st.
To be honest, the Detroit Red Wings don’t exactly match up well against the Leafs. The Leafs have three lines with a similar talent level as the Detroit Red Wings top line. Nazim Kadri who skates as the third line center isn’t scoring at the same rate as he had before the arrival of John Tavares because he’s embracing more of a checking role. He had scored back to back 30 goal seasons before JT arrived.
The Toronto power-play is lethal converting at a 22.1% success rate which ranks them 9th in the NHL. Their team shooting percentage is ranked 3rd in the NHL scoring at an eye-popping 11.3% clip. Toronto scores 3.55 goals per game which rank 4th in the NHL. Basically what we are saying is this team is an offensive juggernaut. The Detroit Red Wings can’t afford to take penalties against this team and expect to have a chance to win the hockey game.
Just for comparison purposes, the Wings rank 25th in the NHL with a 16.2% success rate on the PP. Their team shooting percentage is 16th in the league at 9.6%. And their 2.8 goals per game ranks them 25th in the NHL.
Although the Toronto Maple Leafs allow a lot of shots on goal per game (32.6), they don’t give up many goals. The Leafs rank 10th in the league only allowing 2.86 goals per game on average. Jake Muzzin will help lower both of these categories.
The Leafs take the least amount of penalties per game, so the Detroit Red Wings power-play needs to wake up and convert on the opportunities they earn. The Wings in recent weeks have been chasing way too often leading to them taking way to many penalties. If this game comes down to special teams play the Wings will not be successful.
Michael Rasmussen will re-join the Detroit Red Wings next week after his two-game conditioning stint is completed with the Grand Rapids Griffins. With Tyler Bertuzzi out for the weekend with an upper-body injury, I don’t understand why but Abdelkader is expected to once again flank Larkin on the top line while Athanasiou skates with a pair of checkers on the third line.
Against this high flying Toronto Maple Leafs team, it would make more sense to have AA, Larkin, and Nyquist or Mantha together but apparently, Jeff Blashill disagrees. With Rasmussen and Bertuzzi out, Martin Frk gets another opportunity to skate a few minutes with the fourth line and possibly sees himself once again on the second PP unit.
The Detroit Red Wings projected lineup:
Justin Abdelkader (A) – Dylan Larkin (A) – Gustav Nyquist
Thomas Vanek – Frans Nielsen (A) – Anthony Mantha
Andreas Athanasiou – Luke Glendening – Darren Helm
Christoffer Ehn – Jacob de La Rose – Martin Frk
Niklas Kronwall (A) – Mike Green
Jonathan Ericsson – Dennis Cholowski
Next. Wings are set to celebrate Red Kelly tonight. dark
Game Information:
Detroit Red Wings 19-25-7 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 30-17-2
Time: 7:30 EST
Location: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI
TV: Fox Sports Detroit, TSN 4, Fox Sports Go, NHL.TV, ESPN+
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Oddshark Odds fav: Leafs -190