Red Wings will be without Larkin and Vanek on Tuesday

The Red Wings are headed to Boston without Dylan Larkin (upper-body) or Thomas Vanek (lower-body).

Detroit is coming off two tough overtime losses vs. the Sabres and the Rangers are are about to play their two biggest games of the season. The Red Wings are trailing the Bruins and Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division and are in Boston on Tuesday and host the Leafs on Wednesday. They need a pair of wins to help them get themselves back in the thick of things, but they will have to do so without two of their best forwards. 

Vanek left Sunday’s game late in the third period after he was hit by an Andreas Athanasiou shot—that appeared to catch him in the jewels. Ken Holland announced on Monday morning that Vanek is day-to-day and will not travel to Boston—which leaves the door open for him to potentially return on Wednesday. This is a huge blow for the Red Wings. Vanek was dominant in the first period vs. the Rangers and is tied for the team-lead in points with 31 (12G / 19A), despite missing 11 games. 

Larkin finished Sunday’s game and it was actually his ill-advised pinch that led to the Rangers’ game-winning goal. Unlike Vanek, Larkin has already been ruled out for both Tuesday and Wednesday’s games. 

With the two forwards out, Tomas Jurco will almost certainly draw into the lineup tomorrow and the 12th spot will likely be filled by either Steve Ott or Drew Miller. Ott remains on IR with a shoulder injury, but was skating on Monday. If Miller clears waivers at Noon ET. on Monday, then he will likely stay with the team through the All-Star break and could draw in instead of Ott. 

Here were their lines and pairings during Monday’s practice (Courtesy of DailyFaceoff):