Game 43 Preview: Detroit looks to regroup against Blackhawks

The Detroit Red Wings look to start a new winning streak against the Chicago Blackhawks after a heartbreaking OT loss to Dallas on Friday and 4-1 loss to Nashville on Saturday.  The Red Wings  players had three days to rest and regroup for the home stretch of the NHL schedule.

Chicago are on a bad streak of losing four straight, including two in OT against Seattle and Minnesota last week.

Game time tonight is 7:30 PM ET in Detroit, MI.

Player Focus: The Rookies

This season, the Detroit Red Wings are fortunate to have not one, not two, but three terrific rookies playing important minutes.  Red Wings color commentator, Mickey Redmond mentioned on air last week that, “the additions of Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider has accelerated the rebuild by about two years”.  Here is a look at how good the three rookies have been this year.

Lucas Raymond is the top scoring rookie in the NHL.  At the start of training camp in September, Raymond was a likely candidate to start the year in Grand Rapids (AHL).  Fast forward to mid-season and Raymond is playing on the top line, has played all 42 games, scored 11 goals, added 22 assists for 33 points, and an even +/- rating.

Moritz Seider has been everything the Red Wings expected.  Last year he won the award as the SHL’s top defenseman.  He then represented Germany at the World Championships and won the same award against some of the best defensemen in the world.  This year, Seider has also played all 42 games for Detroit.  He leads all NHL rookie defensemen in scoring with three goals, 23 assists, and 26 points, with a -1 rating.

The condensed schedule last year allowed goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to retain his rookie status this season.  After being a Calder Trophy finalist last year and an offseason trade to Detroit, Nedeljkovic has taken over as the #1 goaltender with the Red Wings.  In 30 games, Nedeljkovic has a 12-11-5 record, 2.79 GAA, and a .915 SV%.

Red Wings Notes

• Detroit are currently 5th in the Atlantic Division with an 18-18-6 record
• The Red Wings special teams are currently ranked 27th in the NHL, PP 14.8%, PK 78.8%
• Dylan Larkin leads Detroit with 37 points in 37 games
• Tyler Bertuzzi and Larkin lead the Red Wings with 19 goals each
• Moritz Seider leads the Red Wings with 23 assists in 42 games
• Seider leads all Detroit defensemen in scoring with 26 points
• Bertuzzi continues to lead the Red Wings with a +14 rating
• Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to start and has a 12-11-5 record, 2.79 GAA, and .915 SV% in 30 games

Detroit Projected Lineup

Forwards

Vladislav Namestnikov – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Robby Fabbri – Pius Suter – Tyler Bertuzzi

Filip Zadina – Michael Rasmussen – Adam Erne

Givani Smith – Joe Veleno – Sam Gagner

Defensemen

Danny DeKeyser – Moritz Seider

Marc Staal – Filip Hronek

Nick Leddy – Gustav Lindstrom

Goaltenders

Alex Nedeljkovic (starter)

Kaden Fulcher

Not in lineup

Riley Barber (lower body), Carter Rowney (undisclosed), Thomas Greiss (COVID-19), Jordan Oesterle (healthy)

Blackhawks Notes

• Chicago are currently 7th in the Central Division with a 15-20-7 record
• The Blackhawks special teams are currently ranked 26th in the NHL, PP 18.8%, PK 75.6%
• Patrick Kane leads Chicago with 27 assists and 36 points in 38 games
• Alex DeBrincat leads the Blackhawks with 24 goals in 42 games
• Defensemen Erik Gustafsson is the only Chicago player with a positive rating at +3
• Goaltender Mark Andre-Fleury is expected to start and has a 13-13-3 record, 2.76 GAA, and .913 SV% in 29 games

Chicago Projected Lineup

Forwards

Brandon Hagel – Dylan Strome – Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat – Jonathan Toews – Sam Lafferty

Philipp Kurashev  – Kirby Dach – Dominik Kubalik

Henrik Borgstrom – Ryan Carpenter – Mackenzie Entwistle

Defensemen

Jake McCabe – Seth Jones

Calvin de Hann – Connor Murphy

Caleb Jones – Erik Gustafsson

Goaltenders

Marc Andre-Fleury (starting)

Arvid Soderblom

Not in lineup

Brett Connolly (healthy), Wyatt Kalynuk (healthy)