Preview: Red Wings travel to Tampa Bay to play first of two in Florida

The Detroit Red Wings travel to Tampa Bay to play the 2nd of four meetings between the two teams.  The Lightning won the first game of the season in a thrilling 7-6 come-from-behind victory in Detroit. Tampa Bay are currently 4th in the NHL standings.  The Lightning are also one of the hottest teams in the NHL and boast an 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games.

Game time tonight is 7:00 PM ET at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL.

Player Focus:  Moritz Seider

Moritz Seider continues to take his game to the next level.  On Tuesday night in Detroit, Seider registered one assist to break a franchise record for points in consecutive games by a rookie defenseman.  During the seven game point streak, Seider scored one goal,11 assists, 12 points, a +5 rating, and 20 shots on goal..

Seider currently leads all Red Wings defensemen in scoring with 40 points in 54 games.  This total also places Seider 12th in scoring for all NHL defensemen and 4th in scoring for all NHL rookies.

After this season, Seider has two years remaining on his entry-level contract.   Seider has a cap hit of $863,333 annually.

Red Wings Notes

• Detroit are currently 5th in the Atlantic Division with a 24-24-6 record
• The Red Wings are currently 26th in PP (16.9%) and 27th in PK (76.0%)
• Dylan Larkin leads Detroit with 27 goals and 56 points in 49 games
• Moritz Seider leads the Red Wings with 35 assists in 54 games
• Seider leads all Detroit defensemen in scoring with 40 points
• Lucas Raymond continues to lead all NHL rookies in scoring with 43 points in 54 games
• Defenseman Marc Staal leads the Red Wings with a +11 rating
• Goaltender Thomas Greiss is expected to start and has an 8-8-1 record, 3.37 GAA, and .895 SV% in 20 games

Detroit Projected Lineup

Forwards

Valdislav Namestnikov – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Robby Fabbri – Pius Suter – Tyler Bertuzzi

Michael Rasmussen – Joe Veleno – Filip Zadina

Adam Erne – Carter Rowney – Sam Gagner

Defensemen

Nick Leddy – Moritz Seider

Marc Staal – Troy Stecher

Jordan Oesterle – Filip Hronek

Goaltenders

Thomas Greiss (starter)

Alex Nedeljkovic

Not in lineup

Jakub Vrana (upper body), Givani Smith (healthy), Gustav Lindstrom (healthy), Danny DeKeyser (healthy)

Lightning Notes

• Tampa Bay are currently 2nd in the Atlantic Division with a 35-12-6 record
• The Lightning special teams are currently 17th in PP (20.1%) and 16th in PK (79.7%)
• Steven Stamkos is 13th in NHL scoring with 60 points and leads Tampa Bay with 26 goals in 52 games
• Defenseman Victor Hedman leads the Lightning with 40 assists and a +16 rating in 53 games
• Hedman also leads all Tampa Bay defensemen in scoring with 51 points
• Backup goaltender Brian Elliott is expected to start and has a 5-2-2 record, 2.62 GAA, a .902 SV% in 10 games

Tampa Bay Projected Lineup

Forwards

Ondrej Palat – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov

Alex Killorn – Steven Stamkos – Anthony Cirelli

Taylor Raddysh – Ross Colton – Mathieu Joseph

Patrick Maroon – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Corey Perry

Defensemen  

Victor Hedman – Jan Rutta

Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak

Mikhail Sergachev – Andrej Sustr

Goaltenders

Brian Elliott (starting)

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Not in lineup

Boris Katchouk (healthy), Cal Foote (healthy), Zach Bogosian (lower body)