WGD: Game 76: Red Wings vs. Sharks
By Nick Seguin
5 years ago After a victory in Vegas on Saturday night, the Red Wings swing down the west coast to make a stop in San Jose before coming back East.
If nothing else, beating these Western Conference playoff teams is a confidence and morale-booster, so expect the Wings to go hard at it tonight. This will be the second and final time this season the Red Wings play the Sharks. The last game was a 5-3 loss during Gustav Nyquist’s final game in the winged wheel. He was dealt to the Sharks later that night.
The Sharks have just recently clinched a berth in the playoffs, and they are planted pretty firmly between the first place Flames and 3rd place Golden Knights. At this point, it doesn’t seem like they’ll be moving much, meaning they’ll likely have a first round match-up against Vegas.
Unfortunately, these are not problems the Red Wings have to worry about.
THE RED WINGS
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 DARREN HELM Rating: 70.6#146 LW |  DYLAN LARKIN Rating: 77.5#34 C |  ANTHONY MANTHA Rating: 73.6#54 RW |
 TYLER BERTUZZI Rating: 72.9#66 LW |  ANDREAS ATHANASIOU Rating: 77.9#29 C |  LUKE GLENDENING Rating: 69.7#117 RW |
 THOMAS VANEK Rating: 72.7#65 LW |  FRANS NIELSEN Rating: 71.8#114 C |  TARO HIROSE |
 CHRISTOFFER EHN Rating: 69.3#130 LW |  MICHAEL RASMUSSEN Rating: 70.8#139 C |  RYAN KUFFNER |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 DAN DEKEYSER Rating: 71.1#98 LD |  FILIP HRONEK Rating: 71.5#81 RD |
 NIKLAS KRONWALL Rating: 71.6#91 LD |  MADISON BOWEY Rating: 69.0#99 RD |
 LIBOR SULAK Rating: 72.5#74 LD |  BRIAN LASHOFF Rating: 71.9#69 RD |
At this point of the season, I don’t expect the Red Wings lines to shuffle too much. Especially since they won their last game, they might as well continue to roll with the success.
Taro Hirose continues his hot start, having recorded three assists through the first three games of his NHL career. Anthony Mantha is coming off a big 2-goal game in Vegas, where he scored the tying and game-winning goals. And Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou are looking to become the first two Red Wings 30-goal scorers in ten years.
There aren’t many story lines on this roster beyond that. One thing to point out, though: these are all young and developing players. It’s the rebuild at work. It’s fun!
THE SHARKS
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 TIMO MEIER Rating: 77.3#22 LW |  TOMAS HERTL Rating: 78.7#27 C |  GUSTAV NYQUIST Rating: 75.4#38 RW |
 MARCUS SORENSEN Rating: 73.9#45 LW |  JOE THORNTON Rating: 75.7#46 C |  KEVIN LABANC Rating: 74.7#42 RW |
 EVANDER KANE Rating: 77.2#21 LW |  LUKAS RADIL Rating: 73.1#77 C |  JOONAS DONSKOI Rating: 73.8#52 RW |
 MICHEAL HALEY Rating: 68.3#135 LW |  BARCLAY GOODROW Rating: 71.2#106 C |  MELKER KARLSSON Rating: 71.5#87 RW |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 JOAKIM RYAN Rating: 71.9#85 LD |  BRENT BURNS Rating: 83.5#1 RD |
 MARC-EDOUARD VLASIC Rating: 75.7#23 LD |  TIM HEED Rating: 76.3#23 RD |
 BRENDEN DILLON Rating: 72.8#63 LD |  JUSTIN BRAUN Rating: 71.7#75 RD |
This Sharks team is definitely a contender, especially when you add in the players they currently have on injured reserve. But with no Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture or Erik Karlsson, do they have what it takes to beat the Red Wings? The answer is still yes.
It’s still very strange seeing Nyquist in a teal jersey, but I’m happy for him that he’ll get a good playoff run out of this team. In his 12 games played with the Sharks, he’s scored 3 goals and 3 assists. With the injuries listed above, he’s getting top-line minutes, but I’d expect him to shift down to the second line during the playoffs.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Jimmy Howard vs. Aaron Dell
After a recent back-to-back leading into the weekend, I’d expect Aaron Dell to get the start for San Jose tonight. Martin Jones has played 57 games this season, so he’s earned a bit of a rest down the stretch, especially against low-threat teams like Detroit. Dell has not been terribly successful this year, putting up a 9-7-4 record through 21 games with a .887 save percentage and 3.14 goals against average.
As for Detroit, expect Howard to get the start because he’s our undisputed starter and is coming off a day’s rest. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Bernier get the nod, though. With the exception of his last game against the Blues, he’s actually been pretty okay.
HOW TO WATCH
It’s a late one tonight, folks! Puck drop is at 10;30 P.M. ET and you’ll be able to watch the game on Fox Sports Detroit or NBCSCA. It’s also being broadcast on Sportsnet in Canada for some reason, so if you’re tuning in from there you’ll be able to watch the game.
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