Preview: Red Wings Host Ovi and the Capitals Tonight at LCA

Hot off three consecutive victories, the Detroit Red Wings will host Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals tonight at LCA in Detroit, MI.  Game time is 7:30 PM ET.

Red Wings Notes

• Detroit are currently 3rd in the Atlantic Division with a 7-5-2 record
• The Red Wings special teams are currently ranked 25th in the NHL, PP 17.4%, PK 72.3%
• Tyler Bertuzzi continues to lead the Red Wings in scoring with nine goals and 15 points in 11 games
• Moritz Seider leads all Red Wings  and all rookies with nine assists
• Lucas Raymond remains the top rookie scorer in the NHL with 14 points in 14 games
• Thomas Greiss is expected to start and has a 4-3-0 record, 3.24 GAA, and .906 SV%
• At morning optional skate, Coach Blashill indicated that Lucas Raymond, Marc Staal and Filip Hronek were banged up in the Edmonton game and are game-time decisions for tonight’s lineup

Detroit Projected Lineup

Forwards

Tyler Bertuzzi – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Robby Fabbri – Pius Suter – Filip Zadina

Vladislav Namestnikov – Mitchell Stephens – Sam Gagner

Givani Smith – Michael Rasmussen – Adam Erne

Defensemen

Nick Leddy – Filip Hronek

Danny DeKeyser – Moritz Seider

Marc Staal – Gustav Lindstrom

Goaltenders

Thomas Greiss (starting)

Alex Nedeljkovic

Not in lineup
Carter Rowney (healthy),  Jordan Oesterle (healthy), Troy Stecher (undisclosed), Jakub Vrana (shoulder)

Capitals Notes

• Washington are currently 3rd in the Metropolitan Division with a 6-2-4 record
• The Capitals special teams are currently ranked 21st in the NHL, PP 18.6%, PK 78.8%
• Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals in scoring with 11 goals and 21 points in 12 games
• Ovechkin scored goal #741 on Monday against Buffalo.  He is now tied with Brett Hull for 4th all-time in goals scored
• Evgeny Kuznetsov leads the Capitals with 11 assists
• Goaltender Vitek Vanecek is expected to start and currently has a 3-2-3 record, 2.51 GAA, and .906 SV%
• Former Red Wing Anthony Mantha has a shoulder injury and will not play
• Hendrix Lapierre was assigned back to Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL) for the remainder of the season yesterday
• Center Aliaksei Protas and goaltender Zach Fucale were recalled from the Hershey Bears (AHL) yesterday

Washington Projected Lineup

Forwards

Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Tom Wilson

Conor Sheary – Connor McMichael – Daniel Sprong

Axel Jonsson Fjallby – Lars Eller – Garnet Hathaway

Carl Hagelin – Alexei Protas – Brett Leason

Defensemen

Martin Fehervary – John Carlson

Dmitri Orlov – Nick Jensen

Trevor van Riemsdyk – Justin Schultz

Goaltenders

Zach Fucale (starting)

Ilya Samsonov

Not in lineup
Vitek  Vanecek (shoulder), Dennis Cholowski (healthy), Matt Irwin (healthy), Anthony Mantha (shoulder), Nic Dowd (lower body), T.J. Oshie (lower body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip)