The 28-22-and-5 Detroit Red Wings face off against the 33-19-and-4 Minnesota Wild today at Little Caesars Arena (12:30 PM EST start on ABC/ESPN+/97.1 FM).
This is the start of what’s close to a back-to-back slate between Detroit and Minnesota, with a Sunday game vs. the Ducks squeezed into Detroit’s schedule. The Wild get both Sunday and Monday off.
The Red Wings come into the game having had a 7-game winning streak snapped by the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 8th, but possessing a 15-5-and-1 record under coach Todd McLellan; the Wild sit in 3rd place in the NHL’s Central Division, and Minnesota comes into the post-Four Nations schedule on a 2-game winning streak, and having won 5 of their past 7 games.
As you probably know by now, Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin will be back in Metro Detroit in time to participate in today’s game, but he didn’t practice on Friday, with Lucas Raymond returning to the Wings’ mini-camp before reflecting upon his Four Nations Face-Off experiences with the Wings’ media corps. We didn’t find out which goaltender will start today, however, so that part of the Wings’ lineup will be determined over the course of the pregame warmups.
The Wild had forward Joel Eriksson Ek, defenseman Jonas Brodin and goaltender Filip Gustavsson in the fold for Friday’s practice (per the Star Tribune’s Sarah McLellan), but coach John Hynes served as an assistant for Team USA, and forward Matt Boldy and defenseman Brock Faber were still en route from Boston on Friday, so assistant coach Jack Capuano ran Friday’s practice.
The Pioneer Press’s John Shipley framed the shape of the Wild’s roster thusly:
The Wild enter the stretch run firmly in the postseason picture, fifth in the Western Conference and 6-4-0 in their past 10 games. In addition to Kaprizov, the Wild will be without forwards Jakub Lauko (lower body injury) and Ryan Hartman, who has seven games left on a 10-game suspension handed down on Feb. 3.
Lauko went through an entire practice on Friday at TRIA Rink, but Capuano said he didn’t anticipate him traveling to Detroit.
“He’s close, really close, but no,” Capuano said. “He’s skated the last few days. He’s feeling better. But we want to make sure that, just talking to the trainers and, obviously, (Lauko), that he’s 100 percent ready to go.”
As for Hartman, he missed three games before the break and obviously gained no ground on his punishment during it. Suspended as a repeat offender, Hartman got 10 games for slamming the head of Ottawa’s Tim Stützle to the ice during a faceoff after the two were penalized for fracas earlier in the second period.
Hartman won’t be eligible to play until Oct. 9 at Pittsburgh, the day after the NHL trade deadline.
“He’s embraced it, and he’s gonna do everything he can to maintain his skill level, and his conditioning level, so when he does come back in he’s ready to play,” Capuano said.
Capuano wouldn’t confirm whether Gustavsson or Marc-Andre Fleury would start against the Red Wings, deferring to coach Hynes’ discretion.
Field Level Media also described the Wild’s stead…
Minnesota entered the break sitting at third place in the Central Division. The Wild won five of their last seven games prior to the layoff.
They play five of their first seven games after the break on the road. That’s followed by a seven-game homestand.
They’re still waiting for their top scorer to return. Kirill Kaprizov hasn’t started practicing since undergoing lower body surgery. Kaprizov, who is on the long-term injured reserve list, hasn’t played since Jan. 26.
Minnesota doesn’t have another dynamic offensive threat. In the two losses since his injury, the Wild were shut out. However, they managed to score six goals against the New York Islanders in their last game on Feb. 8. Matt Boldy led the charge with two goals and an assist.
Like the Red Wings, the Wild are eager to get back on the ice.
‘It feels good (to) mentally reset, and we all know what’s at stake this next 26 games or so. So, it’s a sprint now. ‘ forward Marcus Foligno said. ‘We’re excited to be back. This is coming into the best time of the year.’
Now ABC is holding a double-header today, and of course they’re cheating toward the second half thereof, which will include an Alex Ovechkin-vs-Sidney Crosby match-up.
In all honesty, the people making the “biggest deal” about today’s Wings-Wild game are the Austrian press, because this match-up between Marco Rossi and Marco Kasper will take place in prime time in Central Europe, on Sky Sports.
However, NHL.com did take note of the fact that today’s game between Detroit and Minnesota is one of some importance:
Minnesota Wild at Detroit Red Wings (12:30 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+)
The Red Wings (28-22-5) look to continue their impressive run under coach Todd McLellan when they host the Wild (33-19-4). McLellan was hired by Detroit on Dec. 26 to replace Derek Lalonde, who was fired 34 games into his third season. The Red Wings are 15-5-1 under McLellan and occupy the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, a point up on the Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins. Detroit has not qualified for the playoffs since 2015-16. Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond has 26 points (eight goals, 18 assists) in the 21 games since McLellan took over. He has 59 points (21 goals, 38 assists) in 55 games overall. Minnesota is 5-2-0 in its past seven games and third in the Central Division, two points behind the Dallas Stars. The Wild are still without forward Kirill Kaprizov, who underwent surgery because of a lower-body injury in late January and was expected to be out a minimum of four weeks. Despite missing 19 games this season, Kaprizov still leads the Wild in scoring with 52 points (23 goals, 29 assists) in 37 games.
Update: Here are the game notes, published at 2:30 AM:
Update: The Athletic’s Sarah Jean Maher also posted a game preview:
Detroit currently owns the final wild-card slot in a very tightly packed Eastern Conference, just one point behind the also-playoff-starved Ottawa Senators and one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins. The Red Wings are looking to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Lucas Raymond, who suited up for Sweden at 4 Nations, leads Detroit skaters with 59 points, while veteran Alex DeBrincat owns a team-leading 24 goals. Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin memorably scored the game-winning goal for Team USA in last weekend’s dramatic 3-1 win over Canada.
Minnesota sits third in the Central Division, two points behind the Dallas Stars and two points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche.
Wild star Kirill Kaprizov has been out for three weeks after undergoing surgery on a lower-body injury, and according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith, the timeline for his return remains uncertain.
Minnesota forward Matt Boldy, defenseman Brock Faber, general manager Bill Guerin and coach John Hynes have all been with Team USA during the past couple weeks. Boldy was among the most impressive — and, depending on who you ask, the most surprising — skaters for the U.S. After Kaprizov, Boldy leads the Wild in goals (20) and points (48). The Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin and goaltender Filip Gustavsson also joined Sweden at the tournament.
