Detroit Red Wings @ Boston Bruins: Updates, Lineups, Keys to the Game

Updates

Forwards

Tyler Bertuzzi – Michael Rasmussen – Lucas Raymond

Robby Fabbri – Pius Suter – Filip Zadina

Vladislav Namestnikov – Joe Veleno – Adam Erne

Givani Smith – Mitchell Stephens – Sam Gagner

Defense

Danny DeKeyser – Filip Hronek

Nick Leddy – Moritz Seider

Marc Staal – Gustav Lindstrom

Goalies

Thomas Greiss

Alex Nedeljkovic

Forwards

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak

Taylor Hall – Charlie Coyle – Craig Smith

Jake DeBrusk – Erik Haula – Curtis Lazar

Trent Frederic – Tomas Nosek – Karson Kuhlman

Defense

Derek Forbort – Charlie McAvoy

Matt Grzelcyk – Brandon Carlo

Mike Reilly – Connor Clifton

Goaltender

Jeremy Swayman

Linus Ulmark

Score First

As was pointed out in the Morning Skate, Boston has scored the first goal in five of their first seven games, going 4-1 in those five. It is still super early in the season to where it could be just one of those odd things that happen over a short sample size that means nothing. It could also mean Boston has a hard time getting into a game unless they can get off to a strong start. Either way, getting out of the gate early has not been a strength of the Red Wings this season either, so getting the first goal would be a nice change of pace.

Keep the Events Low

As a fan, low event hockey is super boring. As a player, it can be an effective strategy against a team that looks to get a ton of shots on net (Boston is eighth in the league in shots/game with 33.9) and already does a good job of suppressing their opponents shots (Boston is fourth in the league in shots against/game with 28.7). Unlike some of the previous seasons when the Red Wings would bunker and play low event, they have enough talent up front to pot a few goals in only a handful of quality chances and enough defensemen behind them who can get the puck up to them effectively enough to find those handful of chances.

Recharge the Power Play

The Red Wings power play has looked much better this season than it really ever did under Dan Bylsma. Unfortunately it has not resulted in a lot of goals with the man advantage yet as Detroit sits with the eighth worst PP in the league at 14.3%. Boston early on has been “meh” on the penalty kill (81%, 17^th in the league) so if the Wings can get a goal or two with the mana advantage it could really put the pressure on a Boston offense that has struggled to find itself beyond Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle early on.