It’s assumed that Alex Nedeljkovic will start opposite the Carolina Hurricanes this evening (7 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit/Bally Sports South/97.1 FM). MLive’s Ansar Khan focuses on Nedeljkovic’s probable reunion with his former team in an article posted this morning:
“Anytime you play a former team, a former teammate, there’s some motivation,” Nedeljkovic said following Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders. “It’s exciting. It’s a fun place to play, too. That’s a great crowd. It’ll be really cool to see what it’s like as a visitor. Hopefully we stay on schedule, and we can play Thursday. If not, it’s all right. We’ll meet them down the road.”
The Hurricanes placed six players in COVID protocol Tuesday, including stars Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, and had their game in Minnesota postponed. But since there were no further positive tests on Wednesday, the game against the Red Wings is on (7 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit), even though Carolina will be at least two players short of a full roster due to salary-cap constraints (players in protocol still count against the cap).
“Right now, we’re going to prepare as if we’re going to go and play on Thursday,” Nedeljkovic said. “That’s all anybody can do right now. As far as those guys, obviously I played with them for a while there to start my career, so hopefully they’re all doing well. Obviously, they’re sick but they’re doing OK, they’re battling and nobody’s too ill.”
Nedeljkovic has started eight of the past 10 games, separated himself in the competition with Greiss after the two rotated the first month of the season.
Nedeljkovic is 9-6-2, with a 2.47 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in 19 appearances following a rough Red Wings debut in a 7-6 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the season-opener.
