GAME DAY: Wings aim to capitalize on momentum in Washington

After two days off, the Detroit Red Wings will return to action Wednesday against the Washington Capitals with the intent to continue the good habits that led them to a 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 24.

The Red Wings haven’t played a game in the District of Columbia since Dec. 11, 2018, when they lost to the Capitals by a 6-2 score. @Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick for Washington while @Dylan Larkin and @Gustav Nyquist tallied for Detroit. Goaltender @Jonathan Bernier barely lasted half the game before being replaced by @Jimmy Howard.

Only three Detroit players from that game remain with the team: Larkin, @Tyler Bertuzzi, and @Michael Rasmussen. They’ll all be in the lineup Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. ET to try and help the Red Wings continue their surprising early-season success.

Detroit scratched defenseman Filip Hronek on Sunday for the second consecutive game. We expect he’ll return to the lineup on Wednesday.

Here’s how the Red Wings practiced on Tuesday:

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

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

@Alex Nedeljkovic will likely start for the Red Wings on Wednesday after stopping 32 of 35 shots against Chicago.

Washington went with these lines and pairings against Ottawa on Monday:

@Alex Ovechkin – @Nicklas Backstrom – @Tom Wilson
@Anthony Mantha – @Connor McMichael – T.J. Oshie
@Carl Hagelin – @Lars Eller – @Garnet Hathaway
@Conor Sheary – @Hendrix Lapierre – @Daniel Sprong

@Martin Fehervary – @John Carlson
@Dmitry Orlov – @Nick Jensen
@Trevor van Riemsdyk – @Justin Schultz

@Ilya Samsonov started for the Caps in Canada’s capital and let in five goals on 37 shots. Expect @Vitek Vanecek to man the pipes for Washington against Detroit.

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

Washington: @Alexander Ovechkin (seven goals, 12 points); @Evgeny Kuznetsov (four goals, nine points); @Tom Wilson (zero goals, seven points); T.J. Oshie (four goals, five points); @Anthony Mantha (two goals, four points).

Detroit: It’s nice to see @Vladislav Namestnikov off to a productive start in 2021–22. The 28-year-old winger already has three goals and an assist in six games; in 53 games with Detroit last year, Namestnikov had just eight goals and 17 points. There are still some reasons to be concerned about Namestnikov’s play-driving but if the goal is to move him before the trade deadline, he’s already helping his stock.

Washington: How can it not be @Alex Ovechkin? The 36-year-old winger is chugging along at better than a goal-per-game pace to start the season and appears to be dead-set upon surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goal-scoring record. If Ovi can score 50 goals this season, he’ll only be 112 away from Gretzky’s 892 — with four years still remaining on his contract.

Wednesday’s Red Wings game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit and NBC Sports Washington Plus, starting at 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.