Preview: Red Wings look to turn the tide in Colorado

The Detroit Red Wings have lost two games in a row this week and look to get back on the winning track.  It will be difficult as the defense core has been decimated, and minor league defensemen have been called up to replenish an already fragile group.

The Avalanche have scored 14 goals in the last two victories over Philadelphia 7-5, and New York Rangers 7-3 on Wednesday, and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.

Game time tonight is 9:00 PM ET at Ball Arena in Denver, CO.

Red Wings Notes

• Detroit are currently 4th in the Atlantic Division with a 13-11-3 record
• The Red Wings special teams are currently ranked 27th in the NHL, PP 15.7%, PK 75.6%
• Lucas Raymond continues to lead the Red Wings in scoring with 24 points in 27 games
• Dylan Larkin and Raymond lead Detroit with 10 goals
• Moritz Seider leads all Red Wings defensemen in scoring with 18 points in 26 games
• Seider also leads Detroit with 15 assists
• Tyler Bertuzzi and Marc Staal remain in COVID-19 Protocol
• Thomas Greiss is expected to start and has an 5-6-0 record, 3.44 GAA, and .895 SV% in 12 games
• Gustav Lindstrom also remains out with a lower body injury

Detroit Projected Lineup

Forwards

Robby Fabbri – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Joe Veleno – Pius Suter – Vladislav Namestnikov

Adam Erne – Michael Rasmussen – Filip Zadina

Givani Smith – Carter Rowney – Sam Gagner

Defensemen

Nick Leddy – Filip Hronek

Danny DeKeyser – Moritz Seider

Dan Renouf – Jordan Oesterle

Goaltenders

Thomas Greiss (starter)

Alex Nedeljkovic

Not in lineup

Luke Witkowski (healthy), Kyle Criscuolo (healthy), Brian Lashoff (healthy)

Avalanche Notes

• Colorado are currently 4th in the Central Division with a 14-7-2 record
• The Avalanche special teams are currently ranked 16th in the NHL, PP 23.9%, PK 76.1%
• Nazem Kadri leads Colorado with 34 points in 22 games
• Mikko Rantanen leads the Avalanche with 12 goals in 20 games
• Kadri leads Colorado with 23 assists
• Defensemen Devon Toews leads the Avalanche with a +16 rating
• Goaltender Darcy Kuemper is expected to start and has a 10-5-0 record, 2.86 GAA, and .902 SV% in 16 games
• Former Red Wings forward Darren Helm will play his first game against Detroit.  For the season, Helm has scored three goals and added two assists in 23 games.

Colorado Projected Lineup

Forwards

Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Logan O’Connor

Valeri Nichushkin – JT Compher – Mikko Rantanen

Darren Helm – Alex Newhook – Andre Burakovsky

Kurtis MacDermid – Tyson Jost – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Defensemen

Devon Toews – Cale Makar

Erik Johnson – Samuel Girard

Jack Johnson – Jacob MacDonald

Goaltenders

Darcy Kuemper (starting)

Jonas Johansson

Not in lineup

Bowen Byram (head), Nazem Kadri (lower body)