Reimer Starts, Detroit Begins Life Without Larkin, Dallas Looking to Correct Skid: Red Wings-Stars Game Day Notebook & Where to Watch
Everything you need to know before tonight's Red Wings-Stars match-up in Dallas
The Detroit Red Wings will have to pick themselves up off the mat after an insulting and injurious loss Saturday night for a road tilt with the Dallas Stars tonight at the American Airlines Center.
Reimer Starts in Goal as Detroit Seeks Answers
James Reimer will start in goal tonight for the Red Wings. He appeared in mop-up duty on Saturday night, spelling the night's starter Alex Lyon in the third period and stopping all 11 shots he faced. Prior to that relief appearance, Reimer last started on November 16th in Sweden against the Ottawa Senators, losing 5-4 in overtime and making 29 saves on 34 shots. For the season, Reimer is 2-2-2 with a 2.18 goals against average and .922 save percentage.
Reimer's start comes at a moment in which the Red Wings are looking for answers in net, with Ville Husso having struggled in each of his last two starts and Lyon having endured his worst performance of the season in Saturday's defeat.
Larkin on IR, Expected to Miss Time; Red Wings Will Have to Tinker
This morning, the Red Wings moved Dylan Larkin, J.T. Compher, and Klim Kostin all to the injured reserve, while recalling Jonatan Berggren, Austin Czarnik, and Zach Aston-Reese from Grand Rapids on an emergency basis.
After the morning skate in Dallas, Derek Lalonde revealed that there is "no timeframe" for Larkin's return at this point in time, terming it an upper body injury. The coach also said that he spoke with Larkin on Sunday evening and that Detroit's captain did "seem to be in good spirits," though of course the frightening injury was "heavy in a lot of ways" for all involved. Lalonde also said that Compher is a possibility to return for Thursday's game against Carolina.
With neither of its top two centers available, the Red Wings are limping, but the schedule is not relenting with three games in the next four days, beginning tonight against the Stars.
If there is any good news entering tonight's game, it's that the Red Wings' line of Patrick Kane, Joe Veleno, and Alex DeBrincat looked excellent Saturday night at five-on-five, and that trio is healthy.
Meanwhile, Andrew Copp (who has played both center and wing on the season) will have to step up in Larkin and Compher's absence. Copp has been an important defensive player for Detroit throughout the season, but he hasn't been especially productive with five goals and seven assists in 26 games played. He will need to chip in more offense in Larkin and Compher's absence.
Berggren is the only one of the Red Wings' three call-ups whose calling card is scoring and chance creation, so there will also be a certain measure of pressure on the 23-year-old to pick up some of the offensive slack as well. Lalonde mentioned that his plan is to begin the night with the three call-ups playing on a line together, while also saying that there will be "some moving parts" to manage the workload of the forwards who played under-manned on Saturday and now face three in four.
"We have our number one center out, our number two center out, a top six forward who was running the half-wall on our first power play [David Perron], and a heavy depth forward in the bottom six with Klim [out], and we still have a very good roster," said Lalonde of the challenge of making due with major absences from his regular forward group.
For more on the implications of Compher, Larkin, and Kostin's injury, check out this piece from earlier in the afternoon:
Stars Look to Correct Skid
A year removed from a run to the Western Conference Final, the Dallas Stars are off to a strong start to their 2023-24 campaign. Dallas sits at third in the Central Division wiht a record of 15-8-3. However, the Stars have lost three of their last four, most recently a 6-1 defeat to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
The Stars depend heavily on their dynamic top line of Joe Pavelski, Jason Robertson, and Roope Hintz, the team's top three scorers. Pavelski has 11 goals and 14 assists, Robertson eight goals and 16 assists, and Hintz 10 and 12. Hintz missed Saturday's loss to the Knights with illness, but he was a full participant in this morning's skate.
"We just gotta get our stops quick," said defenseman Moritz Seider when asked about slowing the Stars' attack.
Jake Oettinger will get the start in goal for coach Peter DeBoer. Oettinger is 10-7-2 with a .905 save percentage and 2.84 goals against average. While those numbers are commendable and Oettinger is without doubt one of the best young goaltenders in the game, his start to the year hasn't been quite as sharp as the standard he has set. In 19 appearances this year, Oettinger (per MoneyPuck) has earned a Goals Saved Above Expected/60 of -0.032 in 19 games compared to 0.194 in 62 games last year and 0.031 per 48 the year prior.
Where to Watch
Tonight's game in Dallas is an 8 PM start (7 PM local), and it will be broadcast by Bally Sports Detroit. 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.