Tonight the Red Wings will play in their last game before the trade deadline on Monday. With a handful of player’s futures in limbo, this could be the final go-around in the winged wheel for some. The opponent in question: The New York Islanders, who will be hosting the game at the famed Nassau Coliseum.

The stakes are high in this one for the Islanders. They have dropped four straight games and now sit outside of a playoff spot. A win tonight could push them back into a wildcard position. That sets the stage as a prime opportunity for the Red Wings to play spoiler.

The Detroit bench will be without Filip Hronek, who is missing his second consecutive game. On Thursday the club placed Hronek on the IR, crossing him off for the Calgary game as well. His presence will be sorely missed, as Alex Biega is subbing in on the top-pair. Not to mention, Biega is playing with a broken cheekbone. The injuries are piling on at a rapid pace.

The forward group is expected to stay the same after a resilient effort against the Canadiens back on Tuesday.

Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello decided to be a buyer this deadline season. He went out and acquired D-man Andy Greene from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a couple of draft picks. Since then, Greene has skated in two games for the Isles, registering an assist with about 18 minutes per game. He’s paired with 25-year-old Ryan Pulock.

Random fact of the day: Otto Koivula, New York’s fourth line center for tonight, will be playing his eighth game of the season. His last two games in the NHL? Jan. 14 against Detroit and Dec. 2 against Detroit.

Mike Green’s name has been heating up as of late. From scoring his 500th career point on Tuesday to being a reported Washington Capitals target, there is a somewhat decent chance this is his last game as a Red Wing. The sense is Jeff Blashill won’t sit him like other teams have done with their trading chips. The slew of injuries on the back-end might have also prompted that decision.

What Green would provide to a contender is depth on the blue-line. Someone who can run a second power play unit and make the occasion great offensive read. He’s not someone to play 18 minutes a night routinely due to some defensive deficiencies, but in a comfortable third-pair role with power play time, there can be a lot of value in him as a cheap buy.

Look, anything is possible in today’s parody filled NHL, right? Even the Red Wings, who have just 15 wins this season, can still mathematically make the playoffs…for now. See, if the club fails to nab two points on Long Island, those chances will be toast.

Sorry to those still holding out on postseason hockey. Probability wise, their slim odds vanished months ago. This will mark the fourth straight season the club is packing it up in early April.

The win at home against Montreal was a sweet moment for a team that hasn’t had many of those. The Red Wings want to head into next week’s three game home-stand with back-to-back wins. Further distancing themselves from a potential sub-48 point season.

Why is 48 points significant? 48 points marks the lowest total over a non-lockout year in the salary cap era. The Colorado Avalanche set the record back in 2016-17. If you’re the Red Wings, that’s not something you want to be remembered for.