WGD: GAME 63: RED WINGS @ OILERS

The Red Wings played pretty well last night and probably deserved a better result, but Brian Elliott was tough to crack and that will probably be the case again tonight as they face Cam Talbot and the Oilers. 

Detroit has played much better recently and a lot of it has to do with the improved play of Petr Mrazek. The Red Wings come in having gone 3-1-1 in their last five while scoring 13 goals and giving up the exact same number.

They are in the middle of a tough five-game road trip, but will look to continue their strong run of good hockey, even with their season all but over. The Oilers come in having won five of their last eight and sit third in the Pacific with a 34-22-8 (76 points) record. The Oilers are attempting to snap a 10-year playoff drought and they are well on their way. 

Mitch Callahan made his season debut yesterday, but was afforded only 6:24 TOI. Callahan will likely come out of the lineup tonight as Gustav Nyquist is expected to be back in after serving his six-game suspension.  Henrik Zetterberg extended his point-streak to five games with an assist and now has five goals and 13 assists (18 points) in his last 15 games—that’s tied for 13th in the NHL over that stretch. 

Tomas Tatar scored his 15th goal last night, which puts him on-pace to finish the year with 20 goals for the third straight season. Since he scored 19 in 2013-14, Tatar is tied for 48th in the NHL with 84 goals. Finally, Anthony Mantha added his 19th assist last night, which gives him 32 points in 47 games. His 2.42 points per 60 leads the Red Wings and is tied with Mitch Marner for 20th in the NHL among players who have played at least 250 minutes. 

The Red Wings come in after playing last night, but the Oilers are well rested since they haven’t played since Tuesday, when they escaped St. Louis with a 2-1 win. 

Obviously this group is led by Connor McDavid, who leads the NHL in points with 72 (21G / 51A). McDavid has had a sensational second season and will be extremely difficult for the Red Wings to contain. McDavid has one goal and one assist in two career games against the Red Wings. 

Overshadowed by McDavid has been Leon Drasaitl, who has had a great season of his own. Draisaitl leads the team with 23 goals and has added 31 assists (54 points)—which is tied for 22nd in the league. Another one of their great young players is Oscar Klefbom, who leads the team in ice-time (22:09 TOI/GM) and is tied for fourth among NHL defensemen with 11 goals. 

Despite playing last night, it looks like Mrazek will start on back-to-back nights. He stopped 28 of 31 shots in last night’s defeat, but he is now 3-3-1 with a 2.13 GAA and .928 SV% in his last seven starts. Since the start of February, mrazek is 15th in the NHL with a .922 SV%, which shows how his play has improved from earlier this season. This is a great sign as the Red Wings head down the stretch and look towards 2017-18. 

Talbot gets the nod for the Oilers. Talbot has played more than any goalie in the NHL this season, starting 57 of the Oilers 64 games so far. He is also fourth in wins (32), tied for 12th in SV% (.920) and 13th in GAA (2.38). Talbot has also gone 15-10-2 with a 2.54 GAA and .914 SV% on home-ice this season. 

Puck drop is at 10:00pm at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. You can watch the game on FOX Sports Detroit or CBC and if you can’t watch the game you can listen to it on 97.1 FM The Ticket. 

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.

#lgrw ?