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WGD: Game 50: Red Wings vs. Canucks

Jan 20, 2019, 12:32 EST

Continuing on their west Canada road trip, the Red Wings face the Vancouver Canucks on a Sunday matinée. The last time these two teams met was back in November where the Wings won 3-2 in a shootout.

If the Detroit players are looking at the standings at all, I’d expect them to bring their A-game today. Depending on things play out in the Blackhawks and Kings game over the next two days, the Wings could end up being the last place team in the league.

THE RED WINGS

Red Wings lineup via DailyFaceoff.com

LW	C	RW
TYLER BERTUZZI	DYLAN LARKIN	GUSTAV NYQUIST
THOMAS VANEK	FRANS NIELSEN	ANTHONY MANTHA
DARREN HELM	LUKE GLENDENING	ANDREAS ATHANASIOU
JUSTIN ABDELKADER	CHRISTOFFER EHN	MARTIN FRK

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
NIKLAS KRONWALL	MIKE GREEN
DAN DEKEYSER	NICK JENSEN
JONATHAN ERICSSON	Filip Hronek

Jeff Blashill has decided to play with the emotions of Red Wings fans. Many have been clamoring for Filip Hronek to get back into the lineup, but not at the expense of Dennis Cholowski. While not official yet, Cholowski is expected to sit for Hronek today. After a rough night in Calgary, a game or two in the press box might not be the worst thing for the rookie defensemen.

Unfortunately for Cholowski, a British Columbia native who grew up as a Canucks fan, will miss the chance to play his hometown team for the first time in Vancouver. He’s not the only player with this fate, however, Michael Rasmussen, another British Columbia native, has been cleared to play medically but will not play either.

The Canucks

Canucks lines via DailyFaceoff.com

JOSH LEIVO	ELIAS PETTERSSON	BROCK BOESER
SVEN BAERTSCHI	BO HORVAT	MARKUS GRANLUND
ANTOINE ROUSSEL	BRANDON SUTTER	JAKE VIRTANEN
LOUI ERIKSSON	JAY BEAGLE	TYLER MOTTE

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
ALEXANDER EDLER	CHRIS TANEV
BEN HUTTON	TROY STECHER
DERRICK POULIOT	ERIK GUDBRANSON

The Canucks lack the depth needed to be a contender in the Western Conference but they make up for it with their two stars up-front. Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser make up one of the best duos in the league. Pettersson can change a game all by himself. The runaway Calder favorite will be the Wings biggest challenge if they want to win this game.

Between the Pipes

Jimmy Howard vs. Jacob Markstrom

Jimmy Howard was spectacular against the Canucks back in November. He made 40 saves, leading the Wings to victory. They’ll need a strong performance once again today.

Markstrom has been quite inconsistent over the last few games. The last two games he has posted a save percentage over .930 while the previous two games his save percentage was below .860. The Markstrom they get today will make a big difference.

How to Watch

Puck drop is at 4:00 P.M. ET tonight and you’ll be able to watch the game on Fox Sports Detroit.

As always, 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.