Bertuzzi is ineligible to play games in Canada due to his unvaccinated status. As a result, the Red Wings announced Saturday they have recalled forward @Joe Veleno from the AHL to fill Bertuzzi’s spot in the interim.

The last time Detroit went without Bertuzzi in a game, they lost 6-1 to the lowly Montreal Canadiens. Toronto is in a bit of a funk of its own, having gone five games without a regulation win.

Saturday’s game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit (and Hockey Night in Canada!).

The Red Wings

Here’s our best guess as to how the Bertuzzi-less Red Wings will line up on Saturday:

@Robby Fabbri – @Dylan Larkin – @Lucas Raymond
@Joe Veleno – @Pius Suter – @Filip Zadina
@Vladislav Namestnikov – @Michael Rasmussen – @Adam Erne
@Sam Gagner – @Mitchell Stephens – @Givani Smith

Danny DeKeyser – @Moritz Seider
@Nick Leddy – @Filip Hronek
@Marc Staal – @Troy Stecher

@Alex Nedeljkovic was outstanding in Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers, making 30 saves on 33 shots (including a few stops during this crazy sequence late in the third period).

With the Red Wings entering the second half of a back-to-back set, expect @Thomas Greiss to get the start in goal. He’s 3-1-0 with a .917 save percentage this year.

The Maple Leafs

Toronto practiced with these lines on Friday:

@Michael Bunting – @Auston Matthews – @William Nylander
@Alexander Kerfoot – @John Tavares – @Mitch Marner
@Pierre Engvall – @David Kampf – @Ondrej Kase
@Nick Ritchie – @Jason Spezza – @Wayne Simmonds

@Morgan Rielly – @Travis Dermott
@Jake Muzzin – @TJ Brodie
@Rasmus Sandin – @Timothy Liljegren

Former Red Wings goaltender @Petr Mrazek will start for the Leafs on Saturday.

Scoring leaders

Detroit: @Tyler Bertuzzi (six goals, nine points); @Dylan Larkin (three goals, eight points); @Lucas Raymond (four goals, eight points); @Moritz Seider (zero goals, seven points); @Vladislav Namestnikov (three goals, five points).

Toronto: @William Nylander (three goals, six points); @Jason Spezza (three goals, four points); @Michael Bunting (two goals, four points); @John Tavares (two goals, four points); @Morgan Rielly (zero goals, four points).

Players to watch

Detroit: The Leafs are struggling. While their goaltending has been relatively solid, they’ve struggled mightily to score (16 goals in eight GP). @Nick Leddy and the rest of the Detroit defense will need to keep that trend going if they’ll want to win Saturday’s game, which will likely be a low-scoring affair. It wouldn’t hurt if Leddy could help out with his first goal as a Red Wing.

Toronto: The @Petr Mrazek days in Detroit feel like a lifetime ago, even though he only left the team during the 2017–18 season. The 29-year-old Czech goaltender signed a three-year deal with the Maple Leafs this summer as a free agent from the Carolina Hurricanes, with whom he served as a lead tandem option for parts of three seasons. Saturday’s game will be Mrazek’s second with the Leafs.