GAME DAY: Larkin-less Wings host the Canucks in search of first win

It’ll be hard for Saturday’s game to live up to the spectacle that was the Detroit Red Wings’ season opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Detroit fell in overtime Thursday by a 7-6 score. It truly was a game with everything, including four goals from @Tyler Bertuzzi, two blown three-goal leads for Detroit, and a controversial incident involving @Dylan Larkin and @Mathieu Joseph that led to a one-game suspension for the Wings’ captain.

Without Larkin in the lineup, the Wings will host Quinn Hughes and the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. ET. Here’s what you need to know before the game.

Detroit went with these lines in practice on Friday:

@Tyler Bertuzzi – @Robby Fabbri – @Lucas Raymond
@Adam Erne – @Pius Suter – @Filip Zadina
@Vladislav Namestnikov – @Michael Rasmussen – @Sam Gagner
@Givani Smith – @Mitchell Stephens – @Carter Rowney

Danny DeKeyser – @Filip Hronek
@Nick Leddy – @Moritz Seider
@Marc Staal – Gustav Lindström

It remains to be seen whether @Alex Nedeljkovic or @Thomas Greiss will start in goal for the Red Wings. Nedeljkovic allowed seven goals on 48 shots in his Red Wings debut Thursday.

Vancouver beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 on Friday, with the final decision coming in a shootout. The ‘Nucks went with these lines in the win:

J.T. Miller – @Elias Pettersson – @Vasily Podkolzin
@Tanner Pearson – @Bo Horvat – @Conor Garland
@Matthew Highmore – @Jason Dickinson – Nils Höglander
@Justin Dowling – @Juho Lammikko – @Alex Chiasson

@Oliver Ekman-Larsson – @Tyler Myers
@Quinn Hughes – @Tucker Poolman
@Jack Rathbone – @Luke Schenn

With the Canucks playing on back-to-back nights, expect @Jaroslav Halak to make his debut between the pipes for the team after @Thatcher Demko manned the crease on Friday.

Detroit: Elevated to the No. 1 center position in Larkin’s absence, look for Robby Fabbri to make the most of his increased opportunity on Saturday. He meshed well with Raymond during the pre-season and connected with him again on Thursday to set up Tyler Bertuzzi’s third goal of the night.

Vancouver: Early returns have been promising for new Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, acquired from the Arizona Coyotes in a blockbuster deal this past summer. The 30-year-old rearguard had shown signs of decline at 5-on-5 play in his final few campaigns with the ‘Yotes but has acquitted himself nicely thus far on Vancouver’s top pairing with Myers.

You’ll be able to watch this game on Bally Sports Detroit. It’ll be broadcast over the airwaves on WXVT-FM 97.1 “The Ticket” in the Detroit area, as well as on the Red Wings’ official website.

Canadian readers: Sportsnet Pacific will be carrying this game. Once again, it’s scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. ET.

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