The Red Wings head down to Nashville looking to right the ship after a tough start to the year. Notes on the stakes, the lineups and where to watch in today's gameday notebook.
The Red Wings (1-3-0) head to Tennessee tonight to face off against the Nashville Predators, a group struggling to start the season even more than they are. Despite emptying the vault to acquire three top free agents back in July, the star-infused Predators (0-4-0) have yet to win a game. In fact, Detroit's lone win came off a 3-0 blanking of Nashville at Little Caesars Arena.
Saturday's game, a 2 p.m. start, presents an opportunity for the Red Wings to get back on track against an opponent on even looser footing, but don't think that this game will be easy. The Predators have too much talent to make it such, and the point that this dismal start is a surprise illustrates the fact.
"I'm sure they're desperate, but we're desperate too," Lalonde said Friday. "This does not feel good. Again, it's been sporadic play. It's just frustrating where we are with our results. There's two teams that are going to be playing a very desperate, important game early on."
Lineups: Kasper's Season Debut, Potential 11-and-7 Split
Illness is making its rounds through the Red Wings locker room, and so is the injury bug. Tyler Motte sustained an upper body injury and missed practice Friday, leading to the call-up of Marco Kasper on emergency conditions. The 20-year-old Austrian forward found out while eating breakfast in Grand Rapids, driving to Detroit immediately with his Griffins gear bag in tow. Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said after the preseason that Kasper's potential to be called up depended on a more substantial opportunity for him to play, in role and in timeline. This appears to be it.
After such a tough start to the season, Kasper can offer a spark of energy for the group, coming in with the "energy of youth" that Lalonde has praised in the past. But even if Kasper is providing some reinforcements, Detroit doesn't want him to do too much.
"I still need him to play within himself," Lalonde said Friday after practice. "I even think early last year, this was new for them. He tried to do too much. You saw (there) just wasn't time and space." So now, the message is for Kasper to simplify his game and be himself. "Probably what we asked a lot of the other guys: manage your game, don't turn pucks over, play with energy, get above, be on top." In terms of longer term assessments, Lalonde said "I think that we'll be cautious with, I guess, how we judge him."
Kasper is expected to play both sides of the special teams units, as well as the third forward line. He could be moved around depending on the availability of center Andrew Copp, who took a maintenance day Friday. Lalonde didn't brush off the chance of him playing on the wing.
On defense, the pairings saw Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider partner up, with Ben Chiarot and Jeff Petry reuniting as the second pair. Albert Johansson skated next to Justin Holl and Olli Maatta next to Erik Gustafsson.
With injuries and illness among the forwards, Lalonde addressed that an 11 forwards, seven defenseman split is "definitely in play." It depends on the health of the players, but having eight defensemen to choose from helps that decision.
In net, Alex Lyon will get the start after stopping all 15 shots he stopped Thursday in relief of Cam Talbot, who let in five goals on 19 shots. Lyon lost his only start this season, Monday against the Rangers, letting in three goals on 27 shots.
Nashville's lines looked like this in Thursday's 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers:
Where to Watch
This afternoon's game can be viewed at its usual television home of Bally Sports Detroit (soon to be FanDuel Sports Network). It can be streamed at Bally Sports Plus or ESPN+, with radio coverage from 97.1 The Ticket.
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