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WGD: Game 35: Red Wings vs. Flyers

Dec 18, 2018, 11:23 EST

After two days of rest, the Red Wings are flying into Philly to take on the ailing Flyers. It’s been a dramatic couple of days for the Broad Street Bullies, who fired Dave Hakstoll after refusing to give him a vote of confidence when he asked about false reports about his firing.

The whole thing was a mess and left the Flyers organization with a lot to clean up. That will start on the ice, tonight, with a rookie interim coach and a fresh-faced goalie.

THE RED WINGS

Detroit Red Wings lines via DailyFaceoff

LW	C	RW
GUSTAV NYQUIST Rating: 75.6#32 LW	DYLAN LARKIN Rating: 79.2#25 C	JUSTIN ABDELKADER Rating: 70.6#110 RW
THOMAS VANEK Rating: 71.1#97 LW	FRANS NIELSEN Rating: 72.5#95 C	ANDREAS ATHANASIOU Rating: 74.3#58 RW
TYLER BERTUZZI Rating: 72.2#69 LW	LUKE GLENDENING Rating: 69.5#172 C	MICHAEL RASMUSSEN Rating: 71.5#122 RW
CHRISTOFFER EHN Rating: 72.2#70 LW	JACOB DE LA ROSE Rating: 67.9#184 C	MARTIN FRK Rating: 69.4#109 RW

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
NIKLAS KRONWALL Rating: 71.4#88 LD	NICK JENSEN Rating: 70.8#79 RD
DENNIS CHOLOWSKI Rating: 72.0#73 LD	TREVOR DALEY Rating: 70.2#117 RD
JONATHAN ERICSSON Rating: 68.7#133 LD	FILIP HRONEK Rating: 72.5#42 RD

Not much has changed in the Red Wings lines composition. Filip Hronek will be playing in his third game since his call-up, still on the third pairing with Jonathan Ericsson. Splitting up Ericsson and Daley was probably for the best, but it sucks for the two rookies who ended up on the other end of their pairing.

Up front, Larkin continues to lead the team in all aspects. They are really starting to miss Mantha and Helm, but Nyquist is having a hell of a season. Good timing too, as his contract is about to expire and he could be a highly-desired target at the trade deadline.

THE FLYERS

Philadelphia Flyers lines via DailyFaceoff

LW	C	RW
CLAUDE GIROUX Rating: 84.1#4 LW	NOLAN PATRICK Rating: 71.1#134 C	TRAVIS KONECNY Rating: 75.4#34 RW
WAYNE SIMMONDS Rating: 73.1#59 LW	SEAN COUTURIER Rating: 81.4#11 C	JAKUB VORACEK Rating: 76.5#24 RW
JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK Rating: 76.5#21 LW	SCOTT LAUGHTON Rating: 70.8#141 C	MICHAEL RAFFL Rating: 70.9#103 RW
OSKAR LINDBLOM Rating: 71.0#99 LW	PHIL VARONE Rating: 72.7#90 C	DALE WEISE Rating: 70.9#93 RW

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
IVAN PROVOROV Rating: 74.3#30 LD	ANDREW MACDONALD Rating: 70.7#105 RD
TRAVIS SANHEIM Rating: 72.8#52 LD	SHAYNE GOSTISBEHERE Rating: 77.0#12 RD
ROBERT HAGG Rating: 69.6#125 LD	RADKO GUDAS Rating: 71.6#65 RD

I’m not sure what else to say about these Flyers other than they should be better. Nolan Patrick has been bumped up to the top line and Giroux has moved to his wing. That means JVR has been pushed down to the third line and Wayne Simmonds has found himself on the second. If there’s one thing this new coach has done so far, it’s mix up the lines.

On the back end, Provorov and Gostisbehere are having underwhelming seasons. After their hot rookie and sophomore campaigns, they should be hitting much higher.

BETWEEN THE PIPES

Jimmy Howard vs. Carter Hart

This is going to be the story of the night. Carter Hart getting his first NHL start. Hart was a highly touted prospect after an impressive World Junior Championship for Team Canada, but has struggled to find his footing in the professional game. He currently has a .901 save percentage in the AHL. What does that translate to in the NHL? I’m not sure, but it could be very good for the Red Wings.

Expect Howie to go for Detroit tonight. He’s their staple and they need a win right now.

HOW TO WATCH

Puck drop is at 7:00 P.M. ET tonight and you’ll be able to catch the game on Fox Sports Detroit and NBCSP.

Make sure you’re following us on Twitter for all kinds of fun in-game reactions, gifs, and all the other things you’d expect from a hockey blog twitter account.