WGD: Game 57: Matinee Madness
7 years ago
Early afternoon games are always a bit of a gongshow, but the Red Wings somehow managed to have them on back to back days!
Today, the Washington Capitals roll into town to take on the Winged Wheel.
These two teams are pretty similar.
The Capitals are third in the Eastern Conference in goals for. The Red Wings are third(-last)!
The Capitals are first in the Eastern Conference in goals against. The Red Wings are second(-last)!
The Capitals are first in the Eastern Conference in points percentage. The Red Wings are (last!)
Okay maybe they’re not similar at all.
One team is very, very good, and it’s not the Red Wings. It’s unlikely this will be the game Detroit snaps their five-game losing streak… but who knows? Stranger Things have happened.
The Red Wings
 Tomas Tatar |  Henrik Zetterberg |  Anthony Mantha |
 Andreas Athanasiou |  Frans Nielsen |  Thomas Vanek |
 Dylan Larkin |  Darren Helm |  Justin Abdelkader |
 Luke Glendening |  Riley Sheahan |  Steve Ott |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Dan DeKeyser |  Mike Green |
 Niklas Kronwall |  Brendan Smith |
 Xavier Ouellet |  Nick Jensen |
The Wings’ top-six finally looks respectable for once this season, though it’s the other 5/12 of the forward roster (hell, maybe include Larkin right now) that’s been making us cringe all season.
The Wings defence corps looks a little bit more like an NHL-level one without Jonathan Ericsson, but it’s still not quite up to the snuff of Washington’s. Matching up against a top line of Ovechkin, Backstrom and Oshie could be a nightmare for the Detroiters.
The Capitals
 Alex Ovechkin |  Nicklas Backstrom |  T.J. Oshie |
 Marcus Johansson |  Evgeny Kuznetsov |  Justin Williams |
 Brett Connolly |  Lars Eller |  Zachary Sanford |
 Daniel Winnik |  Jay Beagle |  Tom Wilson |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Karl Alzner |  John Carlson |
 Dmitri Orlov |  Matt Niskanen |
 Brooks Orpik |  Nate Schmidt |
I can confidently say I’ve never heard of Zachary Sanford. Probably with good reason too, as he’s managed 2 NHL points through 21 games this season.
But considering five of the Capitals top six have at least 40 points or more so far this year, I think they’re doing okay without him producing much. (The Red Wings, by comparison, have one. So maybe this game will be a little like that one hockey team in your house league who somehow had four or five of the league’s top ten players and you were stuck feeding the puck to one player over and over again… anyone else? Or is that just me?)
Long story short, there’s a fair bit of firepower on this lineup.
But hey, at least they don’t have Mike Green anymore!
Starting goalies
It’s unconfirmed yet, but the starting matchup looks like it’ll be Braden Holtby up against Petr Mrazek.
One goalie has stats of .926 save percentage to go along with a 29-8-4 record. One goalie has a .901 save percentage with a 12-15-6 record. I’ll go ahead and let you decide which is which.
Where to watch
The game will be broadcast on FSD starting at 2:00 p.m. See you then!
Recent articles from Adam Laskaris
