Detroit Red Wings: Well hello old friend teal is not your color

The Detroit Red Wings will continue their west coast road trip tonight in San Jose taking on the Sharks. It will be a little late night hockey tonight as puck drop is set for 10:30 pm.

Well hello old friend, we sure miss seeing you dawning the red and white winged-wheel cruising up and down the beautiful Little Caesars Arena sheet of ice. Gustav Nyquist started off on the right foot after being traded from the Detroit Red Wings to the Sharks, but he’s sort of tripped over his skate laces of late. He recorded 4 points in his first 7 games and has added just 2 assists since over a five-game span.

The long-time Red Wing forward was a fan favorite; many fans remember his ability to fill the net early on in his career. During his first two full seasons as a regular, he scored 28 & 27 goals in back to back seasons respectively.

The 28 came in just 57 games played but he’s yet to replicate that scoring rate since he’s recorded 20 goals only one time since 2014/15. Nyquist is enjoying the best point production of his career this season, and for him, it comes at the perfect time; he’s a pending unrestricted free agent at seasons’ end. He’s achieved 19 goals and 36 assists totaling 55 points on the season. He’s a plus 1 on the year while averaging 17:45 TOI per game and his CF% is excellent at 54.1% on the season.

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In the previous meeting between these two teams Sharks captain, Joe Pavelski recorded a hat-trick, let’s hope the Detroit Red Wings can contain the Sharks leader tonight if he plays. He’s currently listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Pavelski was the 205th pick in the seventh round of the 2003 NHL Entry Level draft. He’s recorded 37 goals this season, and over his last six seasons, he’s totaled 204 goals, for a season average of 34 a year, just remarkable.

Along with Pavelski being sidelined, Erik Karlsson is on the shelf with a groin injury. It would be a lucky break to miss a pair of the Sharks top players. The Sharks are amid a five-game losing streak, so in all honesty, they are probably excited to host the Detroit Red Wings tonight. San Jose currently sits second in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.

The Detroit Red Wings enjoyed a pair of goals, the tying goal and overtime winner from Anthony Mantha in Vegas on Saturday night to shock the Golden Knights. Taro Hirose remains hot having recorded another assist his 3rd thru his first three games; his professional career is off to a tremendous start.

The Wings will be without a host of players but freshly added to the list is Thomas Vanek who is out with a mid-body injury. Michael Rasmussen will remain out once again tonight with an upper-body injury. Detroit has called up big Dylan McIlrath who will be paired with Jonathan Ericsson tonight, while forward Matt Puempel who looked good in his Red Wings’ debut Saturday will get another look tonight. It appears the wings will be forced to dress 11 forwards and 7 defenders unless they use Luke Witkowski up front tonight.

The Detroit Red Wings have seven games remaining this season including tonight. Although it’s late and the product on the ice isn’t the greatest, there are a few good young players you might be interested in watching because remember September is a long ways away.

The Detroit Red Wings projected lineup:

Darren Helm – Dylan Larkin – Anthony Mantha

Tyler Bertuzzi – Andreas Athanasiou – Luke Glendening

Ryan Kuffner – Frans Nielsen – Taro Hirose

Matt Puempel – Christoffer Ehn – Luke Witkowski

Niklas Kronwall – Madison Bowey

Danny DeKeyser – Filip Hronek

Jonathan Ericsson – Dylan McIlrath

Jimmy Howard