GAME DAY: Veleno returns as Red Wings square off against Maple Leafs

@Joe Veleno: IN. @Tyler Bertuzzi: OUT.

The Detroit Red Wings will look to extend their point streak to four games on Saturday when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Bertuzzi is ineligible to play games in Canada due to his unvaccinated status. As a result, the Red Wings announced Saturday they have recalled forward @Joe Veleno from the AHL to fill Bertuzzi’s spot in the interim.

The last time Detroit went without Bertuzzi in a game, they lost 6-1 to the lowly Montreal Canadiens. Toronto is in a bit of a funk of its own, having gone five games without a regulation win.

Saturday’s game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit (and Hockey Night in Canada!).

Here’s our best guess as to how the Bertuzzi-less Red Wings will line up on Saturday:

@Robby Fabbri – @Dylan Larkin – @Lucas Raymond
@Joe Veleno – @Pius Suter – @Filip Zadina
@Vladislav Namestnikov – @Michael Rasmussen – @Adam Erne
@Sam Gagner – @Mitchell Stephens – @Givani Smith

Danny DeKeyser – @Moritz Seider
@Nick Leddy – @Filip Hronek
@Marc Staal – @Troy Stecher

@Alex Nedeljkovic was outstanding in Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers, making 30 saves on 33 shots (including a few stops during this crazy sequence late in the third period).

With the Red Wings entering the second half of a back-to-back set, expect @Thomas Greiss to get the start in goal. He’s 3-1-0 with a .917 save percentage this year.

Toronto practiced with these lines on Friday:

@Michael Bunting – @Auston Matthews – @William Nylander
@Alexander Kerfoot – @John Tavares – @Mitch Marner
@Pierre Engvall – @David Kampf – @Ondrej Kase
@Nick Ritchie – @Jason Spezza – @Wayne Simmonds

@Morgan Rielly – @Travis Dermott
@Jake Muzzin – @TJ Brodie
@Rasmus Sandin – @Timothy Liljegren

Former Red Wings goaltender @Petr Mrazek will start for the Leafs on Saturday.

Detroit: @Tyler Bertuzzi (six goals, nine points); @Dylan Larkin (three goals, eight points); @Lucas Raymond (four goals, eight points); @Moritz Seider (zero goals, seven points); @Vladislav Namestnikov (three goals, five points).

Toronto: @William Nylander (three goals, six points); @Jason Spezza (three goals, four points); @Michael Bunting (two goals, four points); @John Tavares (two goals, four points); @Morgan Rielly (zero goals, four points).

Detroit: The Leafs are struggling. While their goaltending has been relatively solid, they’ve struggled mightily to score (16 goals in eight GP). @Nick Leddy and the rest of the Detroit defense will need to keep that trend going if they’ll want to win Saturday’s game, which will likely be a low-scoring affair. It wouldn’t hurt if Leddy could help out with his first goal as a Red Wing.

Toronto: The @Petr Mrazek days in Detroit feel like a lifetime ago, even though he only left the team during the 2017–18 season. The 29-year-old Czech goaltender signed a three-year deal with the Maple Leafs this summer as a free agent from the Carolina Hurricanes, with whom he served as a lead tandem option for parts of three seasons. Saturday’s game will be Mrazek’s second with the Leafs.

Friday’s Red Wings game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit and Hockey Night in Canada, with opening puck-drop set for 7:00 p.m. ET.

It’ll be sent over the airwaves on WXVT-FM 97.1 “The Ticket” in the Detroit area, as well as on the Red Wings’ official website.