Boy, nothing feels better than beating the Chicago Blackhawks even if you are 28th in the NHL. The Red Wings surprised everyone by snapping their four-game losing streak against a Chicago team that had won seven of their previous eight.

Tonight they will wrap-up their mini homestand against a New York Rangers team sans Henrik Lundqvist. This was supposed to be an afternoon game, but was bumped to primetime, most likely because of the return of Brendan Smith. Since Smith was traded to the Rangers he has no points, five shots and five hits in five games while averaging 22:01 TOI. Following that trade and the Ryan Sproul knee injury, the Red Wings recalled Robbie Russo, who has no points while averaging 15:21 TOI/GM on the Red Wings’ blueline.

This is the third and final meeting between Detroit and New York this season. Detroit won the first 2-1, but dropped the second 1-0 in overtime. They’ve played the Rangers very well and will be looking to continue that trend this evening.

Detroit Red Wings Lines via DailyFaceoff

Jeff Blashill will scratch Anthony Mantha for the second straight game [leave your hate in the comment section below]. They are scratching Mantha to play Mitch Callahan, who was only afforded 6:13 TOI on Friday—he has averaged just 6:19 TOI/GM in two games since being recalled. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

After being held off of the scoresheet on Friday, Henrik Zetterberg had a multi-assist game for the sixth time in nine games on Friday. Tomas Tatar scored twice and added an assist, to give him five goals and two assists (seven points) in his last nine contests. The third member of that line is Gustav Nyquist, who had three assists and now has five points (2G / 3A) since returning from his six-game suspension.

New York Rangers Lines via DailyFaceoff

Smith has played with a few different partners in New York, but it looks like he will play with Nick Holden tonight. The two have played 45:03 TOI together since Smith was acquired and they’ve had a solid 54.5 CorsiFor% and have yet to give up an even-strength goal.

The Rangers are expected to get a few wingers back in the lineup tonight. Rick Nash missed Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury, but will play tonight. Nash has just one goal and two assists in his last eight games. They are also expected to get Michael Grabner (hip) back after a five-game absence. Grabner has surprised a lot of people this season. He is tied with Kreider for the team-lead in goals (26) which is tied for 20th in the league.

Petr Mrazek vs. Antti Raanta.

Mrazek replaced Jared Coreau in the Red Wings’ 6-1 loss in Boston on Wednesday and has now posted a 3.45 GAA and .890 SV% in his last four outings. Tonight will be his first start at Joe Louis Arena since February 21st—he is 2-2-1 with a 2.56 GAA and .913 SV% in his last five home starts.

Raanta will make his second straight start with Lundqvist out—he allowed four goals on 30 shots in a loss in Carolina on Thursday. It wasn’t a great game, but he has won three of his last four games with a 2.22 GAA, .935 SV% and one shutout.

Puck drop is at 7:00pm at Joe Louis Arena. You can watch the game on the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) and if you can’t watch the game you can listen to it on 97.1 FM The Ticket.

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