WGD: GAME 58: RED WINGS @ PENGUINS

On Saturday, the Red Wings snapped a five-game losing streak in a 3-2 shootout win against the NHL’s top team. 

They’ve struggled against the top teams during this tough stretch of their schedule, but were able to squeak out a win on the back of a strong performance from Petr Mrazek. Things don’t get any easier this afternoon as they’re in Pittsburgh to take on a Penguins team that has gone 10-2-3 in their last 15 games. 

Tonight is the final meeting of the season between these two teams. The Penguins won the first game 5-3, but Detroit responded with a 6-3 win in mid-January. Following yesterday’s win, the Red Wings are tied with the Hurricanes for last in the Eastern Conference and are eight points behind the Boston Bruins for the final Wild Card spot and the same amount of points behind the Florida Panthers for third in the Atlantic. 

The playoffs are virtually a pipe dream at this point, but if we continue to use 93 points as a benchmark, they need to go something like 16-3-5 in their final 24 games to get there. So yeah, they’re done. 

Mike Green missed Saturday’s matinee with an illness and his status for today’s matinee is uncertain. With Green out, Ryan Sproul moved into the lineup and Brendan Smith led the group playing 24:15 TOI. 

The Red Wings probably won’t make any changes up front, but fans would like to see Andreas Athanasiou and Thomas Vanek get more playing time—each of them played just over 12 minutes yesterday. The top line continues to roll. Henrik Zetterberg notched two assists, to give him a team-high 43 points (13G / 30A). Anthony Mantha had an assist as well, so he’s not third on the team with 30 points (13G / 17A) and Tomas Tatar is closing in on goal-lead having scored his 13th vs. Washington. 

The Penguins’ blueline took a couple hits earlier this week, losing Olli Maatta for the remainder of the season and Justin Schultz is day-to-day with a concussion. With those two out, Chad Ruhwedel and Steven Oleksy are expected to play again today. 

While their blueline is thin, they are still loaded up front. Sidney Crosby is fresh off of recorded his 1,000 career point and is leading the NHL in goals (31) and is second in points (64). He is playing with Jake Guentzel before Conor Sheary is on the shelf and Guentzel has 11 points (6G / 5A) in 20 games. Evgeni Malkin recently returned from a lower-body injury and has been on a tear since. The big centre has registered two goals and three assists in three games and comes into play with 24 goals and 35 assists (59 points)—which is tied for fifth in the league. 

Petr Mrazek will start for a second straight day and should be going head-to-head with Matt Murray—although that’s unconfirmed. 

Mrazek stopped 34 of 36 shots in the Red Wings’ shootout win and  had really elevated his game recently. In his last three starts, Mrazek has stopped 98 of 103 shots (.952 SV%)  and he’s gone 3-3-1 with a 2.41 GAA , .929 SV% and one shutout in January. He has not faced the Penguins this season, but has struggled away from Joe Louis Arena. 

Murray is coming off of a 37-save performance in the Penguins’ overtime loss in Columbus on Friday. He missed the start of the season with a hand injury, but has gone 21-6-3 with a 2.26 GAA, .927 SV% and three shutouts in 30 starts and two relief appearances. He has supplanted  Marc-Andre Fleury as their No.1 starter since he got back and will be a tough nut to crack this afternoon. 

Puck drop is at 3:00pm at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. You can watch the game on NBC. If you can’t watch the game you can listen to it on 97.1 FM The Ticket. 

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