Everything you need to know ahead of tonight's Red Wings-Ducks game tonight at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit
Tonight, at Little Caesars Arena, the Detroit Red Wings (15-11-4) will host the Anaheim Ducks (11-19-0).
For the Red Wings, who have scored just once in their last two games and lost five of their last six, the sense of urgency is clear.
"We gotta push," said coach Derek Lalonde this morning. "We had this stretch of games circled for a while. We knew this was gonna be a really tough grind. Everybody has one or two of these in their schedule. That happened to be now for us—probably a little bit more because of our European trip. Bad timing with where out lineup's been, but we haven't handled it well, and obviously we've let points slip away."
Per forward Daniel Sprong, getting the offense on track will have to start with creating more opportunities from the interior of the offensive zone. "We gotta get more bodies to the net," Sprong told The Hockey News this morning. "If you look closely, we've created chances, but we're creating them from the outside, and I'm guilty of that as well...We've just got to get hungrier around the net and do what teams have been doing to us...When you start going to the net, those passes and those plays that we're looking for right now are going to open up."
Nov 15, 2022; Anaheim, California, USA; Anaheim Ducks right wing Troy Terry (19) moves the puck ahead of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) during the second period at Honda Center. Lineup Update as Larkin Returns
The best news to come out of this morning's skate for the Red Wings was the return of Dylan Larkin, whom Lalonde confirmed will be available for tonight's game.
Larkin missed four games after being knocked unconscious the Saturday before last against the Senators, and missing just four feels like a minor miracle considering the frightening nature of the injury. To state the obvious, Larkin's return to should be a major boon to a Detroit team struggling to score at the moment.
"It for sure helps when we're getting guys back in the lineup, and obviously some pretty key players, so we're on a little bit of tough stretch in terms of our schedule with travel and all that stuff and playing every other day, so it's definitely good. It feels good energy-wise to get some bodies back," Joe Veleno told The Hockey News this morning.
Here is how the Red Wings lined up at this morning's skate:
Ville Husso will start in goal for Detroit. As the Red Wings return toward returning to health, Alex Lyon suffered an injury Saturday evening in Philadelphia, and he will not be available tonight, so James Reimer will serve as Husso's backup. Per Lalonde, Lyon's injury is not overly severe, but Detroit will evaluate whether he might need to be placed on injured reserve in the coming days.
Anaheim Arrives in Detroit Off Rout of Devils
The Anaheim Ducks have lost five of their last six games as they head into tonight's contest, but last night in Newark, they routed the Devils to the tune of a 5-1 win.
When asked what he sees in the Ducks, Derek Lalonde said he sees a "very hard" and "heavy team," adding that it was "very impressive watching them last night. Watching their structure and compete level last night, I was surprised they were on a five-game losing streak prior to that. I think it's going to look very similar to what we saw the last two games, so it's on us to be a little harder."
Frank Vatrano (14 goals and nine assists in 30 games played) leads Anaheim in scoring and is on pace to smash his previous career high in points (41, a year ago).
The Ducks' goaltending situation will be worth monitoring, as regular starter John Gibson had to exit last night's win after two periods due to injury, replaced by backup Lukas Dostal.
Where to Watch
Tonight's game is a 7 PM start, and it will be broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit Extra. For Michigan-based cord-cutters, that means it will also be available on BSD+, while out-of-market fans can find the game on ESPN+ or Hulu.