Red Wings start West Coast Trip against Los Angeles

The Detroit Red Wings played their last game on Tuesday and will attempt to play the first of three road games tonight in Los Angeles.  The Red Wings game in Anaheim was postponed until tomorrow because of COVID issues surrounding players on the Ducks.

This is the first of two games between Detroit and the Kings this year.

Game time is 10:30 PM ET at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA.

https://twitter.com/DetroitRedWings/status/1479849505264742411?s=20

Andreas Athanasiou unavailable to play against former team

A lower body injury will keep Andreas Athanasiou out of the lineup tonight against his former team. Athanasiou was drafted by Detroit and spent seven seasons playing professionally in the Detroit organization.  Athanasiou enjoyed his best season in 2018-2019 when he scored 30 goals for the Red Wings.  Detroit traded him to Edmonton in 2020 before he signed with Los Angerles as a free agent.  This season, Athanasiou has played 11 games and has scored three goals and six points with a +4 rating.

Former Red Wings winger Martin Frk will play tonight against his former team.  Frk was also drafted by Detroit and spent six seasons playing professionally in the Red Wings organization.  Frk enjoyed his best season in 2017-2018 when he scored 11 goals and 25 points in 68 games with Detroit.  Frk is now in his third season in the Kings organization.  He spent this season playing in the AHL for the Kings affiliate in Ontario and has scored 14 goals and 29 points in 24 games.  Frk was recalled to Los Angeles on Wednesday and promptly scored his first NHL goal of the season.

Red Wings Notes

• Detroit are currently 5th in the Atlantic Division with a 16-15-3 record
• The Red Wings special teams are currently ranked 27th in the NHL, PP 14.0%, PK 77.7%
• Dylan Larkin leads Detroit with 16 goals and 32 points in 30 games
• Rookies Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider lead the Red Wings with 19 assists each
• Seider leads all Detroit defensemen in scoring with 22 points in 34 games
• Tyler Bertuzzi continues to lead the Red Wings with a +13 rating
• Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to start and has an 10-8-3 record, 2.85 GAA, and .914 SV% in 23 games

Detroit Projected Lineup

Forwards

Tyler Bertuzzi – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Robby Fabbri – Pius Suter – Michael Rasmussen

Vladislav Namestnikov – Joe Veleno – Adam Erne

Givani Smith – Sam Gagner – Filip Zadina

Defensemen

Nick Leddy – Filip Hronek

Danny DeKeyser – Moritz Seider

Marc Staal – Gustav Lindstrom

Goaltenders

Alax Nedeljkovic (starter)

Thomas Greiss

Thomas Greiss

Not in lineup

Carter Rowney (healthy), Jordan Oesterle (healthy)

Kings Notes

• Los Angeles are currently 5th in the Pacific Division with a 16-13-5 record
• The Kings special teams are currently ranked 28th in the NHL, PP 17.3%, PK 74.2%
• Anze Kopitar leads Los Angeles with 20 assists and 29 points in 34 games
• Adrian Kempe leads the Kings with 14 goals in 34 games
• Four players lead Los Angeles with +8 ratings
• Backup goaltender Calvin Petersen is expected to start in goal and has an 5-5-1 record, 3.10 GAA, and .893 SV% in 11 games

https://twitter.com/LAKings/status/1479905130006790147?s=20

Los Angeles Projected Lineup

Forwards

Adrian Kempe – Anze Kopitar – Martin Frk

Trevor Moore – Phillip Danault – Viktor Arvidsson

Lias Andersson – Rasmus Kupari – Dustin Brown

Brendan Lemieux – Blake Lizotte – Arthur Kaliyev

Defensemen

Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty

Jacob Moverare – Matt Roy

Tobias Bjornfot – Sean Durzi

Goaltenders

Calvin Petersen (starting)

Jonathan Quick

Not in lineup

Olli Maatta (undisclosed), Austin Wagner (healthy)