Preview: Red Wings continue western trip in Vancouver

The Detroit Red Wings look to break their six-game losing streak tonight in Vancouver.  The Canucks are on a one game winning streak and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.

Game time tonight is 10:00 PM ET at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC.

Player Focus: Joe Veleno

Joe Veleno is slowly starting to move up the Detroit Red Wings depth chart.  Veleno is currently centering Jakub Vrana and Sam Gagner on a middle-six line.

In the last eight games, Veleno has one goal, four assists, five points, and a +1 rating.  In 44 games this year, Veleno has five goals, seven assists, 12 points, and a -6 rating.

Veleno is currently in the 2nd year of his three-year entry-level contract.  Veleno’s contract has a cap hit of $894,167 annually.

Red Wings Notes

• Detroit are currently 5th in the Atlantic Division with a 24-29-7 record
• The Red Wings are currently 27th in PP (17.8%) and 31st in PK (72.7%)
• Dylan Larkin leads Detroit with 27 goals and 58 points in 55 games
• Moritz Seider leads the Red Wings with 37 assists in 60 games
• Seider leads all Detroit defensemen in scoring with 42 points
• Lucas Raymond is currently 2nd in NHL rookie scoring with 46 points in 60 games
• Defenseman Marc Staal leads the Red Wings with a +10 rating
• Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to start and has a 15-18-6 record, 3.23 GAA, a .900 SV%, and one SO in 43 games
• The Red Wings signed 2020 2nd round pick Cross Hanas to a three-year entry-level contract yesterday
• There is trade speculation regarding Nick Leddy as he is a healthy scratch tonight

Detroit Projected Lineup

Forwards

Valdislav Namestnikov – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Jakub Vrana – Joe Veleno – Sam Gagner

Givani Smith – Pius Suter – Filip Zadina

Taro Hirose – Michael Rasmussen – Adam Erne

Defensemen

Jordan Oesterle – Moritz Seider

Olli Juolevi – Filip Hronek

Marc Staal – Troy Stecher

Goaltenders

Alex Nedeljkovic (starter)

Thomas Greiss

Scratched: Gustav Lindstrom, Luke Witkowski, Nick Leddy

Injured: Robby Fabbri (lower body), Carter Rowney (lower body), Mitchell Stephens (lower body), Danny DeKeyser (upper body), Tyler Bertuzzi (Covid-19)

Canucks Notes

• Vancouver are currently 5th in the Pacific Division with a 30-24-7 record
• The Canucks special teams are currently 14th in PP (21.4%) and 32nd in PK (71.1%)
• J.T. Miller leads Vancouver with 24 goals, 49 assists, and 73 points
• Quinn Hughes leads all Canucks defensemen in scoring with 49 points
• Conor Garland and Luke Schenn lead all Vancouver players with +13 ratings
• Thatcher Demko is expected to start and has a 27-17-3 record, 2.66 GAA, a .916 SV% and one SO in 49 games

Vancouver Projected Lineup

Forwards

Tanner Pearson – J.T. Miller – Conor Garland

Vasily Podkolzin – Bo Horvat – Brock Boeser

Tyler Motte – Juho Lammikko – Matthew Highmore

Nic Petan – Elias Pettersson – Alex Chiasson

Defensemen  

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Tyler Myers

Quinn Hughes – Luke Schenn

Brad Hunt – Travis Hamonic

Goaltenders

Thatcher Demko (starting)

Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: Noah Juulsen, Sheldon Rempal

Injured: Brandon Sutter (Covid-19), Jason Dickinson (undisclosed), Kyle Burroughs (upper body), Tucker Poolman (illness), Brady Keeper (leg), Nils Hoglander (groin)