Updated 2x at 12:34 PM: The Detroit Red Wings will battle the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening (7:00 PM EST on FSD/CBC/97.1 FM), with the Red Wings hoping to derail some of the Leafs’ pre-playoff momentum by stealing a win at the Air Canada Centre.
On this day in #RedWings History: 3/24/1956: Ted Lindsay, who received a death-threat from Maple Leafs’ fans earlier in the day, scored the game-winner to lift the Red Wings to a 5-4 overtime victory in Game 2 of the #StanleyCup semifinals in Toronto. pic.twitter.com/qVHNfS9x1p
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 24, 2018
The Maple Leafs hit the ice at the ACC before the Red Wings, as noted by TSN’s Kristen Shilton…
Leo Komarov is the only absentee at #Leafs morning skate. Appeared when I arrived around 9 am this morning that someone had already been skating, I’m assuming that was probably him.
#Leafs lines at morning skate: Hyman-Matthews-Nylander Marleau-Kadri-Marner
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Brown
Johnsson-Plekanec-Kapanen
Leivo, Moore, Martin
Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Polak
Carrick
Andersen McElhinney
And TSN’s Mark Masters:
Leafs lines at morning skate
Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Marleau-Kadri-Marner
JvR-Bozak-Brown
Johnsson-Plekanec-Kapanen
Martin, Moore
Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Polak
Leivo-Carrick
Andersen
McElhinney
TOR will play six of final eight regular season games at ACC
TorontoMapleLeafs.com’s Paul Hendrick went the concise route:
No lineup changes for the Leafs tonight it appears.
#tmltalk
After the Leafs’ morning skate, Babcock bristled about advanced stats, as noted by NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy…
Babcock on Roman Polak: “The other night when he ran over one of their best players, DJ Smith said to me, ‘What’s the corsi rating for that’.”
The Red Wings hit the ice for their morning skate just before 11:30 AM, per DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji…
#RedWings head onto the ice for the morning skate in Toronto. pic.twitter.com/TqtBT6Y7B7
— Dana Wakiji (@Dwakiji) March 24, 2018
The Red Wings…
Morning skate coming up in Toronto. #RedWings, Leafs tonight at 7. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/JBhVJOxGxs
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 24, 2018
The Free Press’s Helene St. James…
Readying for morning skate at Air Canada Centre. #RedWings pic.twitter.com/WBVjsPYWAz
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) March 24, 2018
And the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan, who’s already looking forward to the off-season:
Two more weeks of morning skates, and season done #RedWings pic.twitter.com/zFAPAKpDBp
— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) March 24, 2018
No surprises here, per DetroitRedWings.com’s Wakiji:
#RedWings morning skate:
Bertuzzi-Zetterberg-Nyquist
Mantha-Larkin-Helm
Athanasiou-Nielsen-Abdelkader
Frk/Booth-Glendening-Svechnikov
Ericsson-Daley
DeKeyser-Jensen
Kronwall-Witkowski
Ouellet extra
#RedWings PP units: Bertuzzi-Zetterberg-Nyquist-Abdelkader-Kronwall;
Frk-Larkin-Nielsen-Mantha-Daley
Also, from NHL.com’s McCarthy:
Jimmy Howard will start vs #TMLTalk #LGRW #NHL pic.twitter.com/BnLu2Zxwzg
— Dave McCarthy (@DaveAMcCarthy) March 24, 2018
Update: after the morning skate…
Jeff Blashill tells Det fans to hang in there: “Our team has competed hard, with structure. But thats not OK. We don’t want to be a team that plays pretty good and loses, we want to be a team that plays great and wins. Everytime you put on that jersey that has to be your mindset”
— Lance Hornby (@sunhornby) March 24, 2018
Fox Sports Detroit also said, “Hello”…
Morning skate in Toronto. #RedWings pic.twitter.com/HeYaH0qdBI
— FOX Sports Detroit (@FOXSportsDet) March 24, 2018
Update #2: The Leafs’ YouTube channel posted clips of Mitch Marner…
Also of Red Wings-related note: According to Sportsnet, the Leafs are “heavy favourites” over the Wings in terms of sports betting;
The Athletic’s Prasanth Iyer penned a superb article about the Red Wings’ penalty-killing unit, but it only really “works” in conjunction with the embedded photos and videos, so I can’t really offer a good “set-up” preview here;
And the Midland Daily News reports that Red Wings alumnus John Ogrodnick will serve as a special guest at a Mid Michigan Community Foundation event on April 22nd;
FYI:
Thanks @budredlights and @nhlpa for my custom Budweiser Red Light for my first NHL goal and congrats to Gino on his first of many. It took him quite a few less games than I. pic.twitter.com/JVX6NCoCZm
— Luke Witkowski (@L28witko) March 23, 2018
The #Griffins are in the hunt for a playoff spot, so we need you to pack the Van on Wednesday! Buy one ticket & get one FREE only on the Griffins app! Tap 3-28 BOGO tickets to purchase. pic.twitter.com/6aUcLrN7j2
— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) March 24, 2018