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WGD: Game 71: Red Wings vs. Lightning

Mar 14, 2019, 12:40 EDTUpdated: Mar 15, 2019, 00:44 EDT

Well, here we go again! It was only five days ago these two teams met last and since then, the standings implications are exactly the same: Tampa Bay is still first in the league and has a clinched playoff spot and Detroit is second-last in the league. This time, though, they are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

With that being the case, the Red Wings are getting ready to introduce a few fresh faces to the lineup in the dying weeks of the season. Ryan Kuffner and Taro Hirose were two of the top undrafted free agents to hit the market when the NCAA season concluded and Ken Holland managed to get both of them signed to entry-level contracts. Both players will join the team in the coming days, but likely won’t see any game time until next week.

The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tampa Bay’s last 6 games – Courtesy of OddsShark

So for today’s match-up, here’s what the roster’s looking like.

THE RED WINGS

LW	C	RW
TYLER BERTUZZI Rating: 73.4#57 LW	ANDREAS ATHANASIOU Rating: 76.2#39 C	ANTHONY MANTHA Rating: 75.0#37 RW
THOMAS VANEK Rating: 72.4#82 LW	FRANS NIELSEN Rating: 72.0#103 C	FILIP ZADINA
JUSTIN ABDELKADER Rating: 69.5#135 LW	LUKE GLENDENING Rating: 69.9#163 C	DARREN HELM Rating: 70.9#145 RW
MICHAEL RASMUSSEN Rating: 70.4#155 LW	JACOB DE LA ROSE Rating: 68.3#184 C	CHRISTOFFER EHN Rating: 70.1#105 RW

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
DAN DEKEYSER Rating: 71.6#87 LD	FILIP HRONEK Rating: 72.5#57 RD
JONATHAN ERICSSON Rating: 68.2#131 LD	TREVOR DALEY Rating: 68.7#128 RD
NIKLAS KRONWALL Rating: 71.9#80 LD	MADISON BOWEY Rating: 68.8#97 RD

Tonight will be Filip Zadina’s last game with the Red Wings this season before returning to Grand Rapids for an AHL playoff run. Zadina has a goal and an assist, both on the power play, and has looked increasingly better in every game. It’s too bad he won’t get the chance to play with the Wings other best players, but he’ll likely be one of them next year.

Still no Larkin, but he’s expected back on Saturday and Jonathan Ericsson is listed as active right now as well. If Ericsson is injured, I would anticipate Luke Witkowski slotting in on D, as he did in Montreal.

I’m really hoping to see Zadina net one more tonight. It would be a great way to end his NHL stint this year and leave the door wide open for next season.

THE LIGHTNING

LW	C	RW
ONDREJ PALAT Rating: 73.9#47 LW	STEVEN STAMKOS Rating: 82.4#11 C	J.T. MILLER Rating: 73.3#74 RW
TYLER JOHNSON Rating: 73.4#55 LW	BRAYDEN POINT Rating: 82.5#10 C	NIKITA KUCHEROV Rating: 91.1#1 RW
ALEX KILLORN Rating: 73.8#67 LW	ANTHONY CIRELLI Rating: 75.0#52 C	MATHIEU JOSEPH Rating: 72.6#67 RW
ADAM ERNE Rating: 71.5#101 LW	CEDRIC PAQUETTE Rating: 70.1#161 C	YANNI GOURDE Rating: 74.6#36 RW

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
VICTOR HEDMAN Rating: 80.8#3 LD	ANTON STRALMAN Rating: 75.1#27 RD
RYAN MCDONAGH Rating: 77.9#9 LD	ERIK CERNAK Rating: 74.4#34 RD
BRAYDON COBURN Rating: 72.5#70 LD	MIKHAIL SERGACHEV Rating: 74.5#33 RD

Tampa’s lineup is still elite, but Detroit has given them a run for their money all year. Kucherov is the big one they’ll need to watch out for – he scored twice on them last week. Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point are also incredibly dangerous. The Wings will, as they do, be chasing this team around the ice, but if they play the body and don’t back down at any point, they could make it interesting.

BETWEEN THE PIPES

Jimmy Howard vs. Andrei Vasilevskiy

Howie gets the nod for Detroit tonight, despite Bernier’s strong play as of late. And the Lightining are pulling not giving any breaks. They want to continue to win. So Vasilevskiy will get the start, making Detroit’s objective of scoring goals an even more difficult one.