Red Wings "Dinged Up" ahead of Hosting Kings

DETROIT—Monday night, the Red Wings (23—21–5) prepare to host the Los Angeles Kings (26–14–6) at Little Caesars Arena.  Here's everything you need to know ahead of the evening's action:

Detroit "Dinged Up"

"We're dinged up a little bit," said coach Todd McLellan after morning skate.  At that skate, Detroit was missing Patrick Kane (who has already missed the last two games with an upper body injury) as well as J.T. Compher and Vladimir Tarasenko.  Kane will miss his third game in a row tonight.  Per McLellan, Compher will be out tonight and Tarasenko "is not feeling good, don't think he's gonna be available."  Compher is feeling the lingering effects of a hit from Saturday's game for which Tampa Bay defenseman Emil Lilleberg will have a hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety.

There is some good news on the injury front for the Red Wings.  Michael Rasmussen, who was also shaken up late in that game against the Lightning, was a full participant at morning skate and is good to play.  Tyler Motte—out since the 14th of the month—is "good to go," per McLellan.  The coach added that depending on how things shake out over the course of the day, Detroit may need to call up a forward from Grand Rapids, with McLellan saying, "we've got some guys that are on standby" should that prove necessary.  

McLellan Faces Former Team

In Monday's game against the Kings, McLellan faces the team he coached last before his return to Detroit.  The Red Wing bench boss spent three full seasons then 48 games into a fourth as Los Angeles' coach, before being fired last February.  During that time, McLellan earned a 164–130–44 record, with two playoff appearances, though both were first round exits.

"It's odd because it's like you got sent to another family, and you look over at some of your, for lack of a better term, your kids—but they're not your kids, they're men—the players you're mentoring and helping them grow, they're wearing a different color than you," McLellan said after morning skate of facing his old team.  "But that's okay.  That's called sport.  That's called being competitive.  And they're gonna want to win just as bad as we're gonna wanna win."

Kings Pose Familiar Challenge

In NHL terms, the distance of nearly a year between McLellan's firing last February and the present is not insignificant.  The Kings' halcyon days of two Stanley Cups in three seasons are over a decade removed, and yet, thanks in part to the fixtures as the top of the LA lineup, something of that legacy lingers.

McLellan noted the significance of players like Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty (the latter of whom has missed the entirety of the season to date to injury and while his return now appears close, it is not expected to play against Detroit) to upholding a championship standard, saying, "To have winners around certainly helps. You can always refer back to that point, but the team is different, the way the game is different. The fact that they were winners, and they were around certainly helped."

"That team over there has done a lot of growth," McLellan added.  "They're ready to win a championship."  Going back to those Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014, the Kings calling card has always been defending, and that identity remains in place in their present incarnation.  Los Angeles ranks fourth in the league at 2.46 goals against per game, and, per Natural Stat Trick, the Kings are the best team in the league by five-on-five expected goals per 60 at 2.09.

Forward Christian Fischer—more than familiar with LA's style from his days as an Arizona Coyote—told The Hockey News this morning, "Whenever you play them, you know what you're gonna get: a very structured team.  I know they're getting some guys back, and they're healthy now, so a little different than when we played them earlier in the season.  Hardworking team, good team.  Obviously have some top end guys with Kopitar and [Adrian] Kempe, five or six of those guys that can sting ya on the power play."

As for what it will take to make it three straight wins come puck drop, Fischer said, "No different than our last couple wins here: playing our game, playing direct."

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