Game Day Updates
Good afternoon Red Wings fans (morning here in Seattle) Tonight’s rosters and stats go good with with King Crab legs, pacific salmon and Starbucks coffee. There will be scratches. No word on Raymond status as of yet. Husso expected to be back in goal. Bon appetit! pic.twitter.com/lIu6tTOvl7
— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) February 18, 2023
Lineups
Detroit
Forwards
Bertuzzi – Larkin – Kubalik
Rasmussen – Copp – Fabbri
Berggren – Veleno – Perron
Zadina – Suter – Sundqvist
Defense
Walman – Seider
Chiarot – Hronek
Maatta – Oesterle
Goalies
Husso
Hellberg
Seattle
Forwards
McCann – Beniers – Eberle
Schwartz – Wennberg – Tanev
Tolvanen – Gourde – Bjorkstrand
Donato – Geekie – Hayden
Defense
Dunn – Larsson
Oleksiak – Borgen
Soucy – Schultz
Goalies
Grubauer
Jones
1. Keep It Rolling
It is a rare occurrence that the Wings can string together this many wins. With them quickly closing the gap on a wildcard spot, the team would love nothing more than to finish their west coast trip with a clean sweep and find themselves in the thick of the wildcard race. They’ve been rejuvenated since the break, while their opponent has seemingly let complacency creep in a little bit with their playoff spot looking all but locked in. Larkin and company would love to keep the good times going and give GM Steve Yzerman pause before jettisoning anybody at the trade deadline.
2. Cash In On The Powerplay
The powerplay has been a large factor in the Wings recent run of success. It has looked consistently dangerous after some apparent refinements by powerplay coach Alex Tanguay. Pair the recent strong powerplay with the 31st ranked penalty kill of the Kraken, and there’s a clear recipe to a win in tonight’s contest.
3. Don’t Make Husso Steal This One
Seattle has proven to be a strong team with good depth all year so this certainly won’t be a walk in the park. But Detroit needs to carry the play tonight and tilt the ice towards the Kraken end. While Husso has been terrific since the all-star break, he was wearing down a bit before that. If the Wings are to keep things interesting down the stretch it will be critical to keep the netminder fresh, and part of that is giving him a few easier nights rather than being forced to stop 35+ shots on a regular basis.