WGD: GAME 60, RED WINGS @ RANGERS

With the Red Wings shootout loss on Saturday, they are now 1-5 in the shootout this season and 12-29 (29.3% winning percentage) since the 2012-13 season. After a successful home stand, the Red Wings have now dropped three in a row on the road and tonight they face a tough New York Rangers team on no rest. The Rangers have won six of their last eight and have been off since Thursday…Let’s break it down. 

Detroit Red Wings Lines courtesy of Daily Faceoff

The Red Wings were without rookie sensation Dylan Larkin on Saturday, but head coach Jeff Blashill said he is confident that Larkin will play on Sundayhttps://twitter.com/AnsarKhanMLive/status/701245525039964160. With Larkin presumably back in the lineup, Teemu Pulkkinen would likely come out, but the lineup was not confirmed on Saturday evening. 

Detroit finally got some much needed secondary scoring last night, but their top line was held pointless despite firing a combined 12 shots (Datsyuk 5, Abdelkader 4, Zetterberg 3) on Craig Anderson. After a hot start to the post All-Star break star schedule, Tomas Tatar has cooled off in a big way, having not recorded a point in his last six games. The second, third and fourth lines need to continue to score and the Euro Twins need to keep being the Euro Twins if the Red Wings are going to start rattling off some wins again. 

New York Rangers Lines courtesy of Daily Faceoff

The Rangers will apparently not hold a morning skate on Sunday, but Ryan McDonagh (jaw) is not expected to play after getting hurt on Thursday. Ryan Bourque hasn’t officially been recalled, but he is believed to be a candidate to be called up once Daniel Paille clears waivers and is assigned to Hartford (AHL). 

Mats Zuccarello leads the Rangers with two goals and nine assists (11 points) in his last eight games, followed by Derek Stepan, who has eight points (4G / 4A) over that same span. With the game being held in New York, the Red Wings will need to keep close tabs on Derick Brassard, who slays on home ice—he has 36 points (17G / 19A) in 29 games at Madison Square Garden versus just nine points (5G /4A) in 28 road games. 

Blashill did not announce his starting goalie for tonight’s game. Petr Mrazek stopped 25 of 27 shots in the shootout loss yesterday and could start again tonight if Blashill doesn’t feel confident in Jimmy Howard. Howie has lost 10 consecutive games (0-7-3) and is 2-4-3 with a 3.34 GAA and .897 SV% on the road this season. 

Henrik Lundqvist will likely get the nod for the Rangers after sitting on Thursday. King Henrik is 5-2-0 with a 1.85 GAA and .925 SV% since the All-Star break. Lundqvist is 18-4-2 with a 2.20 GAA and .920 SV% on home ice this season. 

In honour of next weekend’s Alumni game, here is a nice tilt from Red Wings’ alum Joey Kocur. Everyone enjoys a good scrap, especially since there’s about a 1.2% chance of a fight actually going down tonight. 

Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m ET at Madison Square Garden in New York. You can watch it on the NBC Sports Network or catch it on the Radio with WXYT-FM 97.1 The Ticket. 

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