The last time these two met had to be the worst performance of the season for the Detroit Red Wings. Maybe the worst effort I have ever seen from the franchise in my lifetime.
During the last meeting, the Habs teed off on the Detroit Red Wings, blowing them out, embarrassing them on their own ice to the tune of 8-1. It was the second time this season that the Montreal Canadiens have blown out the Wings.
The Habs have had a very successful season this year, to much of my surprise. I didn’t expect them to be in the position they are currently in, a playoff contender. I expected them to be a tick or two better than the Wings; boy was I wrong.
The Canadiens are getting tremendous production from Max Domi who leads the club in point and penalty minutes. Domi apparently just needed a change of scenery and moved from the wing to center to thrive. He leads the Habs with 60 points, 38 points and 78 penalty minutes. His hands are used in many more productive ways than his dads ever were, but I will say you didn’t wanna find yourself on the landing end of a Tie Domi fist.
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The former Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar is enjoying a solid season with Montreal after finding himself in the Vegas pressbox or the end of the bench more times than not after the trade last season. Tatar has notched 22 goals and 26 assists on the season and leads the Habs with a plus16 rating.
Similar to Domi, Jonathan Drouin has enjoyed a real estate change. The young center is second on the club with 50 points that include 33 assists. He was a bit of a distraction while he was a member of the Lightning and he’s been rejuvenated with Montreal.
The ultimate pest, and player you’d absolutely love to have on your team, Brenden Gallagher leads the team with 30 goals. He may be small in stature but like a tick, can cause you all kinds of problems if you happen to be bitten. He has a nose for the trash left around the front of the net and more often than not he makes you pay.
We haven’t even been able to talk about Carey Price or Shea Weber. Both veterans have played exceptionally well for the majority of the season. Price is as calm as they come in the net, he’s provided stability all season long.
Weber returned this season from a long lingering injury and stepped back in like he hadn’t been absent at all. An unsung hero on the back-end is the son of Detroit Tigers legend Dan Petry. Jeff Petry is very effective and just one more former Edmonton Oiler that wasn’t good enough for them (I’m snickering).
The Detroit Red Wings will need an enormous effort from their skilled players after an ugly showing in Florida. The team hopes to have star forward Dylan Larkin available who’s missed the last few with a neck strain. Mike Green will be out for the remainder of the season, but Filip Hronek has seen his workload drastically increased over the last five contests and has responded exceptionally well. He’s been a bright spot for Detroit as he shoulders more responsibility for the remainder of the season.
The Detroit Red Wings projected lineup:
Tyler Bertuzzi – Andreas Athanasiou – Anthony Mantha
Thomas Vanek – Frans Nielsen – Filip Zadina
Darren Helm – Luke Glendening – Justin Abdelkader
Christoffer Ehn – Jacob de La Rose – Michael Rasmussen
Niklas Kronwall – Madison Bowey
Jonathan Ericsson – Trevor Daley
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, PQ
Time: 7:30 pm
Watch/Listen: Fox Sports Detroit, TSN2, 971 the ticket
Oddshark Odds: Habs -227
The Sunday drubbing by Florida should have the Wings playing tonight a bit inspired to leave that bad taste in their mouth behind. But with the Canadiens amid a playoff push, clawing to get into the dance having the last three days off, I can’t see a Claude Julien Montreal club not ready to take care of business tonight.