After a much needed three day break, the Red Wings are back in action tonight. Their fellow Original-6 rival Chicago Blackhawks are the opponent in question. While a long-shot to make the postseason, Chicago is still very much in the Western Conference playoff mix. They sit less than 10 points behind in the wild card chase, and if there is one thing the NHL’s parody filled format has taught us, never say never.

The Red Wings meanwhile have nothing left to play for besides pride. It appears no top-prospects will be recalled and Filip Zadina is still out with a foot injury. Excitement is tempered, but a strong bout with Chicago always warms the heart.

The lines are all kinds of wacky right now, so much so that I doubt the ones listed above are accurate. Dennis Cholowski for one is no longer with the team, being assigned to Grand Rapids on Tuesday. The extra fourth line spot will presumably be filled by either Brendan Perlini or Christoffer Ehn, most likely the former.

At practice Robby Fabbri was slated lower down the lineup than usual. Tough times call for tough measures, which is exactly what Jeff Blashill may be going for to snap this seven game losing streak. The lines listed below might be a better representation of what is deployed Friday night.

The story of the season for Chicago has been rookie winger Dominik Kubalik, who will most likely end up as a runner-up in Calder Trophy voting. The 24-year-old burst onto the scene with a 30-goal campaign. Quite impressive for a relatively unknown name heading into training camp.

Adam Boqvist is another high-end rookie making his way through the league. Boqvist will be patrolling the blue-line with veteran defenseman Duncan Keith, having just recently eclipsed 20 minutes of ice time against Anaheim on Tuesday.

18-year-old Kirby Dach stepped into the NHL and made an impact in his first handful of games. Since then, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for last Summer’s No. 3 pick. Playing in and around the 15-minute mark on most nights, head coach Jeremy Colliton is trying to ease in his blue-chip prospect, for better or worse.

Penciled in as the third-line center, Dach could be flanked by Alex DeBrincat and Drake Caggiula. The DeBrincat-Dach pairing could be a tough matchup, seeing as they bring the traditional playmaking-sniper combination. With that line seeing sheltered minutes they could very well be opportunistic and score a few goals against the lower half of Detroit’s lineup.

Detroit’s current seven game losing skid hasn’t felt as dire as it should be. That just reality with the way 2019-20 has gone, but that needs to change in the name of culture. Dylan Larkin has been vocal about the struggles of enduring a sub-20 win season, yet, he’s also the only skater playing at a consistent level. He and Jonathan Bernier have performed miles ahead of everyone else.

With that said, the rest of the lineup needs to pick up the slack. Just to eek out a victory tonight and stop the bleeding. The play of Filip Hronek, in particular, has seen a noticeable decline in comparison to his first half of the season. Taking on a mostly .500 team in the Blackhawks, now is their best chance before the schedule starts to get brutal.

As previously mentioned, Cholowski won’t be playing in this one. He’ll be returning to GR’s blue-line that is currently down Moritz Seider and Gustav Lindstrom. Cholowski appeared in three games on recall before being reassigned. Not only is this an example of poor usage of the limited recalls, but it also is damaging to the development of the 22-year-old’s game.

It’s been an up-and-down season for Cholowski, no doubt. But at this current stage he is in need of stability. Hopefully he will get the chance to stay put in GR and serve in a primary role in the Griffins playoff push. But no more of this yo-yo game, please.