Everything you need to know ahead of tonight's game between the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues
Everything you need to know ahead of tonight's game between the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues
After this morning's pre-game skate, some eight hours before the Red Wings host the St. Louis Blues this evening at Little Caesars Arena, Detroit coach Derek Lalonde opened his press availability with bad news: "Simon [Edvinsson] is out tonight. We hope to have him on Friday. And Ben Chiarot is out tonight, so opportunity for some of our D in an increased role. Obviously, we haven't handled Simon being out very well: Those two games on the West Coast, Anaheim and LA, not good. Obviously the two Montreal games. It's probably on me and our staff to be creative tonight and get that home match-up and our D to step up."
Edvinsson suffered an upper body injury against the Flyers on Wednesday, while Chiarot went down hurt during Saturday's rout at the hands of the Canadiens. As for a longer term prognosis on Chiarot, Lalonde said, "It's an upper body, something that's been plaguing him throughout his career. Hopefully we'll get a better feel with a couple days off."
With both Chiarot and Edvinsson unavailable, the Red Wings will have to count on Albert Johansson and William Lagesson behind Moritz Seider, Jeff Petry, Erik Gustafsson, and Justin Holl. Per Lalonde, Cam Talbot will get the start in net.
On the other side of the ledger, the Blues enter the evening's action at 15-16-4 for the season, having replaced coach Drew Bannister with Jim Montgomery days after Montgomery was fired by the Bruins. When asked by The Hockey News this morning where he sees Montgomery's fingerprints on the Blues, Lalonde said, "The on top, the pressure points, forecheck, OZP track, things like that are his identity...It's interesting he did not bring his Boston Bruins D zone with him, which is a unique D zone in itself, but I just think more of a pressure, take time and space away identity."
Where to Watch
Tonight's game (a 7pm scheduled puck drop) will be on its usual television/streaming homes: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit for in-market fans and ESPN+/Hulu for the out-of-town crowd. As ever, the game will be broadcast on the radio by 97.1 The Ticket.
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