WGD: Game 44 For Them, Game 1 For Us

Welcome to WingsNation! You probably saw Wanye’s introductory post yesterday, but now that we’ve finished shaking hands, kissing babies, and arguing with fans of lower-class teams, it’s time to get down to business and talk some hockey! Tonight, the Red Wings head into scenic Glendale to take on the Coyotes. This is one of the few games of the year where Gila River Arena actually has fans in it, wearing a better shade of red, but that’s all for nothing if points aren’t picked up. Let’s dive in!

Detroit Red Wings lines courtesy of Daily Faceoff

All signs point in the direction of the Wings running seven defensemen again tonight. It certainly didn’t work against them against Los Angeles, with Alexey Marchenko picking up his first of the year late in the first period, but can you reasonably expect one of the point-men to make a contribution on the stat sheet every night?

It’ll have to do for now, as the Wings figure out what to do up front.

Arizona Coyotes lines courtesy of Daily Faceoff

It’s pretty funny how Viktor Tikhonov came back to the NHL expecting to get a better opportunity than the one he had with the Coyotes, and after failing to do anything in Chicago, found himself in an even worse situation with the Coyotes. Fourth line minutes for a player who was on the second line of the KHL’s richest team last year? Swing and a miss.

Also, this is Zbynek Michalek’s, what, third tour of duty with this team? It must be really weird to have a player in your organization who you keep swearing is gone for good, but ends up on your roster at the start of the year anyway.

From the looks of it, Petr Mrazek is going to get in the nod in goal for the Red Wings tonight, which makes a lot of sense. He’s been the team’s best goaltender all season, but he’s flying high now more so than ever; his record this month is a perfect 4-0-0, and he has a whopping 0.960 save percentage in that stretch.

On the other side of the ice, Louis Domingue is expected to find his way into the Coyotes’ goal. Thie 23-year-old has been found money for Arizona this year, and he, like Mrazek, has been great down the stretch. Since making his first appearance on December 17th, he’s gone 7-2-2, with both of those regulation losses coming in relief of Anders Lindback. His 0.932 SV% on the year is just a shade above Mrazek’s, making for a highly talented battle of young goaltenders.

Goals are nice and all, but the last thing a Domi should do is feel over-confident before taking on the Red Wings.

Puck drop for this game is at 9 PM; aren’t you glad this team doesn’t play in the Western Conference anymore? You can watch it on Fox Sports Detroit Plus, or wherever you stream your hockey. If radio is more up your alley, you can find the game on 97.1 The Ticket or on CBS Sports AM 1270.

Also, make sure to follow us on Twitter; we’ll have live tweets, GIFS, and all the fun stuff that a topical social media platform has.