Preview: Red Wings return to action tonight in Philadelphia

The Detroit Red Wings return to action with a home-and-home series with the Philadelphia Flyers.  The teams begin the short series tonight in Philadelphia and conclude the week with a matinee affair in Detroit on Saturday.

Philadelphia is currently on a two game winning streak and are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games.

Game time tonight is 7:00 PM ET at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA.

Player Focus: Filip Hronek

After a slow start to the season, Filip Hronek has been playing effective hockey since Christmas for the Red Wings.  During his last 12 games, Hronek has one goal, six assists, seven points, a -4 rating, and 25 shots on goal.  Hronek is currently on the second defense pairing with veteran Marc Staal.  He also plays on one of the power play units for Detroit.

For the season, Hronek is second in scoring for Detroit defensemen (see Twitter Search above), and 8th in NHL scoring for defensemen.  In 45 games, Hronek has scored four goals, 19 assists, 23 points, a -14 rating, and 82 shots on goal.

Red Wings Notes

• Detroit are currently 5th in the Atlantic Division with a 20-21-6 record
• The Red Wings special teams are currently ranked 26th in the NHL, PP 16.2%, PK 77.3%
• Dylan Larkin leads Detroit with 23 goals and 44 points in 42 games
• Moritz Seider leads the Red Wings with 25 assists in 47 games
• Seider leads all Detroit defensemen in scoring with 29 points
• Bertuzzi continues to lead the Red Wings with a +10 rating
• Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to start and has a 13-13-5 record, 2.90 GAA, and .911 SV% in 34 games
• After a successful stint in Grand Rapids, Joe Veleno was recalled by the Red Wings yesterday

Detroit Projected Lineup

Forwards

Filip Zadina – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Robby Fabbri – Pius Suter – Tyler Bertuzzi

Vladislav Namestnikov – Michael Rasmussen – Adam Erne

Gemel Smith – Joe Veleno – Sam Gagner

Defensemen

Danny DeKeyser – Moritz Seider

Marc Staal – Filip Hronek

Jordan Oesterle – Gustav Lindstrom

Goaltenders

Alex Nedeljkovic (starter)

Thomas Greiss

Not in lineup  

Riley Barber (lower body), Carter Rowney (undisclosed), Nick Leddy (upper body), Givani Smith (healthy)

Flyers Notes

• Philadelphia is currently 7th in the Metropolitan Division with a 15-22-8 record
• The Flyers special teams are currently ranked 27th in the NHL, PP 15.0%, PK 77.6%
• Cam Atkinson leads Philadelphia with 17 goals and 36 points in 45 games
• Claude Giroux leads the Flyers with 20 assists in 42 games
• Ivan Provorov leads all Philadelphia defensemen in scoring with 17 points
• Atkinson also leads Philadelphia with a +11 rating
• Goaltender Carter Hart is expected to start and has a 9-14-5 record, 2.80 GAA, and a .915 SV% in 29 games

Philadelphia Projected Lineup

Forwards

Oscar Lindblom – Claude Giroux – Cam Atkinson

James van Riemsdyk – Scott Laughton – Travis Konecny

Maxwell Willman – Derick Brassard – Gerald Mayhew

Isaac Ratcliffe – Connor Bunnaman – Zack MacEwen

Defensemen

Ivan Provorov – Justin Braun

Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen

Keith Yandle – Nick Seeler

Goaltenders

Carter Hart (starting)

Martin Jones

Not in lineup

Sean Couturier (upper body), Ryan Ellis (lower body), Patrick Brown (knee), Nate Thompson (shoulder), Kevin Hayes (lower body), Joel Farabee (upper body)