Preview: Red Wings return home to host Coyotes at LCA

The Detroit Red Wings return home to play the last place Arizona Coyotes.  In November, Arizona  won the first game of the season series 2-1.  The Coyotes are on a two game winning streak and are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games.

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

Players Focus: Nick Schmaltz (C, Arizona)

Nick Schmaltz is in his 3rd full season in Arizona.  Schmaltz made headlines over the weekend when he recorded a franchise record seven points in one game against Ottawa.  The effort not only gave Schmaltz 1st star of the game he was also awarded one of the top three players of the week, ending on Sunday.

In 36 games this year, Schmaltz has 14 goals, 19 assists, 33 points, and a +4 rating.  These are excellent stats for a player on a team at the bottom of the league standings.

Schmaltz is in the second year of his seven-year contract that pays him $5.85M a season.  The contract runs through the 2025-2026 season.

Red Wings Notes

• Detroit are currently 5th in the Atlantic Division with a 24-26-6 record
• The Red Wings are currently 27th in PP (16.5%) and 30th in PK (73.9%)
• Dylan Larkin leads Detroit with 27 goals and 56 points in 51 games
• Moritz Seider leads the Red Wings with 36 assists in 56 games
• Seider leads all Detroit defensemen in scoring with 41 points
• Lucas Raymond is now tied for the lead in NHL rookie scoring with 43 points in 56 games
• Defenseman Marc Staal leads the Red Wings with a +10 rating
• Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to start and has a 15-16-5 record, a 3.08 GAA, a .905 SV%, and one SO, in 40 games
• Defenseman Olli Juolevi was picked up on waivers from Florida on Sunday but is not expected to play tonight
• Joe Veleno was recalled from Grand Rapids yesterday after Carter Rowney was placed on IR
• Jakub Vrana will play tonight and is slated to be on a line with Bertuzzi and Suter
• Danny DeKeyser was placed on waivers yesterday

https://twitter.com/DetroitRedWings/status/1501238415211343878?s=20&t=Qzn1isVc8Jto9_oynjMotw

Detroit Projected Lineup

Forwards

Robby Fabbri – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Tyler Bertuzzi – Pius Suter – Jakub Vrana

Valdislav Namestnikov – Michael Rasmussen – Adam Erne

Filip Zadina – Joe Veleno – Sam Gagner

Defensemen   

Nick Leddy – Moritz Seider

Jordan Oesterle – Filip Hronek

Marc Staal – Gustav Lindstrom

Goaltenders

Alex Nedeljkovic (starter)

Thomas Greiss

Scratched: Troy Stecher, Givani Smith, Olli Juolevi

Injured: Mitchell Stephens (lower body), Carter Rowney (foot)

Coyotes Notes

• Arizona are currently last in the NHL standings with a 16-35-4 record
• The Coyotes special teams are currently 32nd in PP (12.6%) and 31st in PK (73.7%)
• Clayton Keller leads Arizona with 23 goals and 51 points in 55 games
• Phil Kessel and Keller are tied for the Coyotes lead with 28 assists each
• Shayne Gostisbehere leads all Arizona defensemen in scoring with 35 points
• Nick Schmalt leads all Coyotes players with a +4 rating
• Rookie goaltender Karel Vejmelka is expected to start and has an 8-21-1 record, 3.42 GAA, a .903 SV%, and one SO, in 32 games

Arizona Projected Lineup

Forwards

Clayton Keller – Travis Boyd – Nick Schmaltz

Matias Maccelli – Alex Galchenyuk – Phil Kessel

Nick Ritchie – Barrett Hayton – Loui Eriksson

Antoine Roussel – Christian Fischer – Lawson Crouse

Defensemen

Shayne Gostisbehere – Dysin Mayo

Janis Moser – Anton Stralman

Vladislav Kolyachonok – Jakob Chychrun

Goaltenders

Karel Vejmelka (starting)

Scott Wedgewood

Scratched: Riley Nash, Kyle Capobianco

Injured: Liam O’Brien (upper body), Jay Beagle (lower body), Andrew Ladd (lower body), Johan Larsson (lower body), Dmitrij Jaskin (lower body)

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