The Red Wings beat the Canucks on Saturday, but the teams rematch in Vancouver tonight. Here’s what to watch for in today’s game day notebook.

This article was updated Feb. 15, 2024 at 5:29 p.m. to include information on the return of Robby Fabbri.

For the second time in six days, the Red Wings will play the Canucks tonight. And while the first result went their way with a 4-3 overtime win — flourished by a Jake Walman griddy — it’s hard to beat a team twice.

But that’s exactly what Detroit will try to do on the second game of its Pacific trip. The Red Wings dropped Tuesday’s contest in an 8-4 blowout in Edmonton. Now, they’ll try to steer back on course against the Canucks.

Lineup

Robby Fabbri's personal leave has extended a game, as Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said Thursday that he and his wife welcomed a baby girl to their family. He confirmed that the Red Wings will use the same lineup as last game.

Alex Lyon will also start after the Ville Husso injury against Edmonton. I am sure that James Reimer will check in sometime during this road trip, maybe Seattle or Calgary, but Detroit needs its best goaltender against the Canucks, even if he’s coming off a really bad night.

More Power, Baby

Detroit’s power play has been a saving grace many times this season, scoring timely goals to keep the Red Wings in the game. Even the last time these teams played, a power play goal by Daniel Sprong cut the deficit to one goal. In Edmonton, its impact was no different, as two power play tallies kept Detroit close for the majority of the game. In fact, it was actually the lack of power play success on its third outing that really helped the Oilers pull away.

“The power play, we went over the boards and have a chance to make it a game, and we didn’t,” Dylan Larkin said after Tuesday’s game. “The power play was great for us tonight but when we needed it, we didn’t get the goal we needed.”

In the loss to Edmonton, Detroit’s power play was noticeably better at generating scoring chances — especially the second unit led by Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane. I wrote a little about their dynamic earlier this week, including the way their knowledge of each other’s tendencies allows them to really dissect the opposing penalty kill with royal road passes. If Kane and DeBrincat can continue this success against the Canucks, that bodes well for their overall chances of leaving Rogers Arena with two points.

More success from the top unit, though, might also help. The second unit outchanced the first 2.139 xG to 0.432 across the first two games since the All-Star break, according to individual data compiled from Moneypuck. Every member of the second unit outchanced the first unit against the Oilers.

In addition to adding more goals, more production from the first unit might round out the potency of each unit in a way that befuddles opponents when they try to match penalty kill units.

Expect a Hughes impact

In Saturday’s Detroit win, Quinn Hughes had a bad game — or rather, he had a quiet game. No shots, no points, a negligible expected goals production across nearly 27 minutes of ice time. In fact, Hughes’ biggest impact was a hooking call that led to Walman’s overtime-winning penalty shot.

Don’t expect Hughes to have another silent night. In the past two games, Hughes has gotten back on the scoring horse with an assist each game. Most importantly, he got back to shooting the puck, including four against a pretty bad Chicago team on Tuesday.

For a dynamic offensive player like Hughes, it’s really hard to repeatedly stop him. That’s why he’s one of the best scoring defensemen in the NHL — not just because he’s skilled, but because he has the ability to repeat that success more often than not.

As much as the Red Wings prevented him from getting involved in the offensive play, his skating also makes him such an effective defender. He can outrace opponents, and his footspeed gives him a leg up in the moments before and after a puck battle. He can also stop odd man rushes, even if he doesn’t get on the scoreboard.

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