WGD: GAME 60: RED WINGS vs. ISLANDERS

On Saturday the Red Wings snapped a five-game losing streak with a shootout win over the Capitals and followed that up with a 5-2 win in Pittsburgh on Sunday. 

Tonight the Red Wings will host the Islanders as they look to extend their winning streak to three games, before their bye week. After two wins over two of the NHL’s best teams, the Red Wings sit eight points back of the Boston Bruins for the final Wild Card spot and the same amount of points behind the Florida Panthers for third in the Atlantic. Their playoff hopes are extremely slim, but two big wins and improved play from Petr Mrazek has the Red Wings looking better than they have all season. 

With that said, the Trade Deadline is around the corner and the Red Wings are better served to be sellers and these wins could cloud Ken Holland’s judgement leading up to March 1st. 

Tonight will be the third and final meeting between the Red Wings and Islanders and Detroit will be looking to complete the sweep. The Red Wings have won 4-3 in overtime and 5-4 in regulation so far, but the Islanders have been playing better hockey of late—they come in having won six of their last nine. 

The Red Wings’ forward lines will look the same as they did on the weekend, but Mike Green (illness) will draw back into the lineup after a two-game absence. Green will replace Ryan Sproul, who failed to record a point while averaging 13:56 TOI in the weekend back-to-back. 

Henrik Zetterberg had four assists in the two weekend wins, giving him a total of 14 points (4G / 10A) in his last 12 games. That top line has been carrying the team recently—Anthony Mantha has nine points (2G / 7A) in his last 10 and Tomas Tatar has goals in back-to-back games, which puts him just one goal behind Thomas Vanek for the team lead. 

If the Red Wings still truly believe they can be a playoff team in 2016-17, they need Dylan Larkin to start producing offensively. He hasn’t scored in 12 games and has just one assist over that span. And it looks like Jeff Blashill is starting to lose faith in him—the second year forward played just 7:58 TOI on Saturday and his third lowest total came the day before when he played just 11:29. 

The Islanders are obviously led by John Tavares, but Ryan Strome has been a catalyst recently. The 23-year-old has registered five goals and six assists (11 points) in his last 11 games, but has only recorded one helper in the two games vs. Detroit this season. Tavares’ linemate Anders Lee has been playing very well too. Since mid-January, Lee is tied for 11th in the NHL with 18 points (8G / 10A) in 18 games and he now leads the team in goals (22). 

Their blueline remains without Travis Hamonic, but Scott Mayfield and Adam Pelech have done a fair job of replacing him. Johnny Boychuk has been racking up assists in bunched lately—picking up six assists in his last eight contests. 

The Islanders will be getting Cal Clutterbuck (lower-body) back in the lineup tonight. The hard-hitting winger has been out since February 3rd, when he was injured against the Red Wings. Clutterbuck will replace Stephen Gionta. 

Petr Mrazek vs. Thomas Greiss. 

Mrazek will make his fourth consecutive start. He started both of this weekend’s wins, while stopping 58 of 62 shots (.935 SV%). Even more importantly is that Mrazek has now strung together four strong starts in a row. He has gone 2-2-0 during them, but has turned away 122 of 129 shots (.946 SV%). He has given up his fair share of goals against the Islanders this season, but is 2-0-0 regardless. 

Greiss started the last game between these two teams and allowed five goals on 24 shots in a losing effort. Greiss has lost three of his last four starts while allowing a combined 14 gaols on 106 shots (.868 SV%). He isn’t playing well right now, so the Red Wings should continue to score a high number of goals vs. the Islanders—they’ve averaged 4.50 goals for in the first two meetings. 

Puck drop is at 7:30pm at Joe Louis Arena. You can watch the game on FOX Sports Detroit and if you can’t watch the game you can listen to it on 97.1 FM The Ticket. 

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