Detroit Red Wings look to stay hot when they host the Boston Bruins

The Detroit Red Wings who have won six of their last seven games and four consecutive will hope to stay hot this evening when they host the Boston Bruins. Tune in, there might be fireworks during the contest similar to earlier in the season.

Many people will shake their head at the fact the Detroit Red Wings now, late in the season have gone on a run and seemingly can’t lose. Sure the wins against Buffalo and New Jersey won’t come as much of a surprise but the wins out West in Vegas and San Jose were unexpected.

The Boston Bruins have all but unofficially locked up home ice advantage for the first round of the NHL playoffs as they prepare to lock horns with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins currently sit six points ahead of Mike Babcock’s Leafs with four games remaining.

It’s still possible the Leafs can flip positions with the Bruins and overtake the second spot in the division, but they essentially need to win out and have the Bruins lose out. That being said, the Bruins should be licking their chops tonight understanding they can secure home-ice with a win over the banged-up Red Wings.

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Speaking of the clipped Wings; the list continues to grow. Luke Glendening (undisclosed injury) is the newest member who joins a host of injured Wings. Jonathan Ericsson is all but done for the season with a knee injury, Jonathan Bernier will be unable to dress today with an upper-body injury. Frans Nielsen‘s season could be over after suffering a concussion after Witkowski hit; yes, his teammate. Luke was enjoying one of those shifts against the Devils where he was hitting anything that moved, and as he propelled to deliver another blow to a Devils player, he also got too much of Frans Nielsen.

Veteran forwards Thomas Vanek and Justin Abdelkader both continue to be sidelined with various injuries. Jacob de La Rose and Michael Rasmussen are both finished for the season. Jacob is out with an accelerated heartbeat. Just when you think everyone has been mentioned you remember Mike Green and Trevor Daley are both done for the season. It seems if you own a pair of skates, you could be needed by the Detroit Red Wings to close out the 18/19 season.

Players to watch:

For the first time in ten years the Detroit Red Wings have a 30-goal scorer, and not just one they have a pair. Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou both become the first players to achieve the milestone since Marian Hossa led the group with 40 goals in 2009. Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg, and Pavel Datsyuk all accomplished the feat in the same season.

Larkin and Athanasiou have shown the ability to change the game and pace the Red Wings’ offense down the stretch. Larkin has 4 goals, and 6-points over his last two games. Anthony Mantha has decided to be a waiter over the last few games serving up assist after assist. He’s recorded 2 goals and 5 assists over his last four games. Tyler Bertuzzi is enjoying a red-hot three-game stretch, he’s recorded back to back 3- point nights and has totaled 7 points in his last three games.

The Detroit Red Wings top line has been extremely productive of late, but they will be opposed by one of the top lines in all of hockey. Patrice Bergeron is one of the most underrated players in all of hockey. When you talk about top-centers’ in the league, it usually takes you quite some time to get to Bergeron, but he is indeed as valuable to the Boston Bruins as Sidney Crosby is to the Penguins.

Bergeron is a perennial Selke Trophy candidate that is awarded to the leagues top defensive center. Along with that he always finds himself in the mid-sixties in points year in and year out. This season he’s scored 32 goals and totaled 77 points. David Pastrnak is an incredible scoring winger, and we all know about the pesky Brad Marchand, the trio is expected to give the Wings a headache tonight.