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WGD: Game 58: Red Wings vs. Senators

Feb 14, 2019, 11:38 EST

I wanted to open this pre-game report with a “Happy Dennis Cholowski bobble head day!”, but it turns out that this day is not so happy, especially for Dennis Cholowski who will be a healthy scratch for the second game in a row. As if scratching him for his homecoming game in Vancouver wasn’t enough, the young defenseman will be watching fans bobble his head from the press box tonight as the team hosts the Ottawa Senators.

The Sens are currently in dead last in the league so tonight’s game really is a battle of the bottom-feeders. A Sens win brings them within two points of catching the Red Wings in the standings. The Wings, as always, are playing to win and don’t want to let the Sens catch them, but they are more often than not their own worst enemy. So it’s kinda up to them.

THE RED WINGS

LW	C	RW
GUSTAV NYQUIST Rating: 75.7#50 LW	DYLAN LARKIN Rating: 79.1#28 C	ANTHONY MANTHA Rating: 74.2#49 RW
DARREN HELM Rating: 70.7#154 LW	FRANS NIELSEN Rating: 72.7#95 C	THOMAS VANEK Rating: 73.4#58 RW
ANDREAS ATHANASIOU Rating: 76.1#46 LW	LUKE GLENDENING Rating: 70.2#168 C	CHRISTOFFER EHN Rating: 71.2#93 RW
JUSTIN ABDELKADER Rating: 70.7#107 LW	JACOB DE LA ROSE Rating: 68.6#188 C	MICHAEL RASMUSSEN Rating: 72.7#93 RW

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
NIKLAS KRONWALL Rating: 72.1#70 LD	MIKE GREEN Rating: 74.8#31 RD
DAN DEKEYSER Rating: 72.5#64 LD	NICK JENSEN Rating: 72.3#56 RD
JONATHAN ERICSSON Rating: 69.6#113 LD	TREVOR DALEY Rating: 69.6#115 RD

While the Red Wings roster is staying the same as it was the other night against Nashville, the lines have changed. Darren Helm has been promoted to what is surely going to be a headache-inducing 2nd line; The 3rd line is all centermen; and the 4th line features former 1st liner Justin Abdelkader. Pretty much the only line that looks good is the 1st. All of the combinations below it make no sense to me.

THE SENATORS

LW	C	RW
RYAN DZINGEL Rating: 73.9#43 LW	MATT DUCHENE Rating: 78.9#29 C	BOBBY RYAN Rating: 71.8#81 RW
BRADY TKACHUK Rating: 73.8#47 LW	COLIN WHITE Rating: 70.6#155 C	MARK STONE Rating: 80.5#9 RW
ZACK SMITH Rating: 69.5#178 LW	JEAN-GABRIEL PAGEAU Rating: 72.0#120 C	MAGNUS PAAJARVI Rating: 71.0#100 RW
BEN HARPUR Rating: 66.6#130 LW	CHRIS TIERNEY Rating: 72.5#102 C	RUDOLFS BALCERS Rating: 73.1#63 RW

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
THOMAS CHABOT Rating: 71.7#77 LD	DYLAN DEMELO Rating: 72.0#67 RD
MAXIME LAJOIE Rating: 69.6#114 LD	CODY CECI Rating: 70.4#96 RD
MARK BOROWIECKI Rating: 68.3#122 LD	CHRISTIAN JAROS Rating: 69.7#100 RD

The Senators lineup now may not be the same as their lineup at game time. Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel and Mark Stone are all at the center of trade speculations with less than a week to the trade deadline. They are three of the Senators best players and the ones the Red Wings should be looking out for should they be playing.

BETWEEN THE PIPES

Anders Nilsson vs. Jimmy Howard

Howard was in the starter’s net at today’s morning skate so he’s likely to get the nod for Detroit.

Ottawa will likely go with Anders Nilsson tonight who has played in 23 games this year and registered a .914 save percentage and 2.76 goals against average.