The Red Wings haven’t won back-to-back games since the opening weekend of the season. Thanks to a statement win against the red-hot Boston Bruins on Friday night, the Wings have a chance to clinch a second straight victory. Doing so, they’ll have to beat the 9-6-3 Vegas Golden Knights, now in their third NHL season.

With some new found confidence from the win versus Boston, and the early success of new comer Robby Fabbri, they might be able to pull it off.

The lines from the Boston game appear to remain the same. Robby Fabbri will play in his second game on the second line. Fabbri had success on the powerplay, however, was still finding his way at even strength. Paired with Andreas Athanasiou and Valtteri Fillpula, hopefully those three can get going.

On defense Trevor Daley and Danny DeKeyser are still out with injury. Staying in the lineup is Dylan McIlrath. The big, tough defenseman could slot in with one of Dennis Cholowski or Madison Bowey. Mike Green returns for his second straight game after dealing with illness.

The Golden Knights boast arguable the best set of wingers in the league. Mark Stone is the superstar of this team, but Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, and Max Pacioretty are all quality players themselves. Cody Glass also slides in on the wing on the third line. The rookie was a top-10 pick in 2017.

A familiar name to Red Wings fans is Tomas Nosek. Nosek was the player Vegas claimed from Detroit in the expansion draft. While he has carved out a nice career in a depth role, the Red Wings got off easy, especially compared to other teams.

The hype Fabbri generated after his debut was off the charts. The former St. Louis Blue found a strong connection with Tyler Bertuzzi, who picked up the primary assist on both powerplay goals. Bertuzzi and Fabbri were teammates on the Guelph Storm of the OHL back in their junior days. The two shared a memorable celebration following the first goal.

How Fabbri responses tonight will be key. As great as the first game went, he’ll need to carry the momentum on over. He obviously will be a big time scoring threat from the slot on the man-advantage, but he’ll also need to prove his worth at even strength. Not just for himself, but to get Athanasiou and Filppula going as well.

Stone may not be a household name yet, but he will be in due time. Stone has established himself as a top defensive forward, garnering some Selke attention the past few years. Vegas made a huge splash in acquiring his services from the Ottawa Senators last year. To date, Stone has picked up 8 goals and 18 points in 18 games this season.

There is no doubt about it — Stone is the top player on this Vegas team, on both ends of the ice. He’ll be tough to handle for this Detroit team.

Detroit is still without DeKeyser on the back-end. The absence of the Western Michigan product has resulted in the shuffling of several seventh defensemen options. From Alex Biega to Joe Hicketts to Dylan McIlrath, the Red Wings defense is in desperate need of stability.

With Vegas’ offensive core being as dynamic as it is, specifically on the wing, that doesn’t bode well for today’s game. Once again, it will be up to Dylan Larkin & Co. to keep this game close.