The Detroit Red Wings face a difficult opponent tonight in the Colorado Avalanche (9 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit/Altitude/97.1 FM), and the Avs’ morning skate happens to be in flux this early afternoon, Detroit time…
J.T. Compher is on the ice in a burgundy sweater, which the second power play unit normally wears at morning skate. It seems like he’ll be in tonight as planned. #Avs
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) December 10, 2021
As the Avs are without two key contributors…
Nazem Kadri (lower body) and Bowen Byram (upper body) are both absent from morning skate. J.T. Compher looks good to go.
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) December 10, 2021
The #Avs don’t appear to have called up any D with Jacob MacDonald going down, so Makar, Toews, Girard, JJ, EJ and MacDermid appear to be the D tonight.
Nazem Kadri is watching morning skate from the bench. There are only 17 skaters on the ice. pic.twitter.com/p2VjEtyjJh
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) December 10, 2021
So…
ROSTER UPDATE:
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) December 10, 2021
We have recalled Jacob MacDonald. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/w5cNU7vNde
You can take from this what you will:
5 straight wins at home, 6-0-1 in last 7; @Avalanche 23-2-2 in last 27 home games (27-3-2 including playoffs)
— Brendan McNicholas (@bmcnich) December 10, 2021
last 5 home games Avs scored 7, 6, 7, 5, 6. Tonight will aim to tie franchise record of 6 straight home games with 5+ goals done twice by Quebec (1982-83, ’85-86) https://t.co/ZABo6CEJ3a
Wouldn’t it stink to play spoiler?
Anyway, after the Avs’ morning skate, coach Jared Bednar confirmed the lineup tweaks:
F Nazem Kadri is day-to-day and won’t play tonight.— Kate Shefte (@KateShefte) December 10, 2021
J.T. Compher’s missed 11 games. He’s officially good to go. pic.twitter.com/GnCRPNoR2L— Kate Shefte (@KateShefte) December 10, 2021
Kurtis “Big Mac” MacDermid in as a forward tonight, Jacob “Littler Mac” MacDonald in on D— Adrian Dater (@adater) December 10, 2021
Darcy Kuemper starts tonight— Adrian Dater (@adater) December 10, 2021
Update:
#Avs forward Darren Helm on what the city of Detroit means to him: “It’s home.”
He’ll play against the Red Wings for the first tonight.— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) December 10, 2021
NHL.com’s “On tap” feature focuses on tonight’s Wings-Avs game…
Avalanche send potent offense against Red Wings: The Colorado Avalanche are 10-2-1 in their past 13 games and begin a three-game homestand against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, BSDET+, ESPN+, NHL LIVE). The Avalanche (14-7-2) defeated the New York Rangers 7-3 on Wednesday and lead the NHL with an average of 4.26 goals per game. They have scored 23 goals in their past four games (3-0-1). Center Nathan MacKinnon has scored at least one point in 12 of his 13 games this season (18 points; two goals, 16 assists). Center Nazem Kadri, who leads Colorado with 34 points (11 goals, 23 assists) in 22 games, has a five-game point streak (nine points; four goals, five assists). Rookie forward Lucas Raymond leads the Red Wings (13-11-3) with 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) in 27 games. Detroit has lost its past two games, including a 6-2 defeat at the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, after winning five straight. — Tim Campbell, staff writer
And ColoradoAvalanche.com’s Tanner Fricke posted a game preview as well:
HISTORY: The Avs maintain a 56-61-5 all-time when playing the Red Wings. When on home ice they are 29-27-4, while on the road they are 27-34-1
The two teams last matched up on March 2, 2020. Colorado took home a win in Detroit, with Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Valeri Nichushkin and Logan O’Connor each grabbing a point.
ROSTER REPORT: The Avalanche moved Jayson Megna and Jacob MacDonald to the Colorado Eagles.
INJURY REPORT: Bowen Byram is still considered day-to-day with a head injury. Ryan Murray remains out indefinitely. Stefan Matteau continues to rehab a lower-body injury and will be sidelined for weeks. Pavel Francouz continues to ramp up to a return with the Avalanche, but has not returned yet.
SCOUTING THE RED WINGS: Detroit heads to Denver on the second leg of a back-to-back, having just dropped a game 6-2 vs the St. Louis Blues.
Detroit maintains a 13-11-3 record, standing at fourth in the Atlantic division. The Red Wings operate at 24th in the league in power play percentage, at 15.7 percent, and 26th in the league at penalty kill percentage, at 75.6 percent.
(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Lucas Raymond; Forward Lucas Raymond currently leads all Detroit players in points at 24 (10 goals, 14 assists). He has not missed a game for the Red Wings this season and posted two assists in the team’s latest matchup in St. Louis.
I wouldn’t take Kadri for Zippo, he is talented but his head is stuck in a dark place.