Author: George Malik

The Grand Rapids Griffins are hosting the Manitoba Moose for the second half of a home-and-still-at-home series tonight at 7 PM EST, and here’s the Griffins’ Game Day Preview video:

Ken Kal and Daniella Bruce preview tonight’s Red Wings-Canadiens game with “The Forecheck”:

The Detroit Red Wings will play the Montreal Canadiens for the third and final time this evening, and after the morning skate, MLive’s Ansar Khan has posted a game-day notebook which discusses Detroit’s desire to end their series vs. the Canadiens on a high note:

“The last game, they crushed us. I don’t care who we were missing, they were way better than us,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I didn’t necessarily feel that way totally in parts of the first game, but when I look back on it, we didn’t have many chances. So, they’ve kind of put a beating on us for two games, regardless of who we had or didn’t have.

“In the NHL you’re always going to be in situations where you’re missing guys. You got to find a way to be successful. We’ve seen Montreal play great hockey and I thought in the last game they were outstanding against us. They won every loose puck, every battle. They were faster than us, they made us look poor defensively.”

The Red Wings (7-6-2) wrap up a four-game homestand. The Canadiens (4-10-1) have gained points in back-to-back games (overtime loss to Kings, victory over Flames) for the first time this season. The Red Wings are coming off a 2-0 loss to Washington on Thursday, the third time they have been shut out this season.

“The key for us to creating offense is that we’re playing on our toes, playing aggressive but playing smart,” Blashill said. “I thought (on Thursday) we started really aggressive and playing well and then we gave up some easy outnumbered rushes because we weren’t playing smart, we lost our body position a little bit too much. We just got to make sure we’re playing our game, we’re playing with confidence, we’re good with the puck.”

I’m fairly certain that I’ve posted this before, but The Coaches’ Site is sharing a 50-minute clip of Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill discussing skill development during practice as a, well, practice for all coaches to focus upon over the course of a 50-minute conversation held during last summer’s coaches summit:

#LGRW head coach Jeff Blashill on the importance of focusing on skill development in practice.

?: https://t.co/yDSdNvwJ5L

Presented by: @powerplayerinc pic.twitter.com/bBJyMmEDFw— Glass & Out Podcast (@GlassandOutPod) November 13, 2021

The Red Wings and Canadiens held morning skates ahead of tonight’s game at Little Caesars Arena, and it appears that Alex Nedeljkovic will start opposite Jake Allen this evening (7 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit Plus/City TV/Sportsnet East/TVA Sports/97.1 FM). After the morning skate, both Michael Rasmussen and coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the media, and here are the videos of their availabilities:

Meanwhile, the Habs were without Jonathan Drouin at their morning skate. Drouin suffers from (post-concussive?) headaches caused by taking a puck to the head in the last meeting between Detroit and Montreal (a 3-0 loss to Montreal on November 2nd):

Jonathan Drouin n’est pas de l’entraînement matinal @CanadiensMTL @TVASports— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) November 13, 2021

Hockeytown pic.twitter.com/aZmVql3WdY— TSN 690 Radio (@TSN690) November 13, 2021

Les trios et duos du CH à Detroit. Jonathan Drouin n’est pas sur la glace du Little Caesars.

Hoffman-Suzuki-Toffoli
Anderson-Dvorak-Gallagher
Lehkonen-Evans-Armia
Pezzetta-Poehling-Belzile

Chiarot-Petry
Kulak-Savard
Romanov-Wideman

Les extras: Brooks, Niku et Norlinder— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) November 13, 2021

Jake Allen obtiendra le départ face aux Wings.— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) November 13, 2021

So Jake Allen starts, and Drouin is out.

The Red Wings’ website’s Brett McWethy just posted a game preview as well:

The Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens will play for the third and final time this season on Saturday night from Little Caesars Arena in The District Detroit. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., with broadcast coverage on Bally Sports Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network.

Montreal has taken care of business in the first two matchups between the Original Six and Atlantic Division rivals, defeating Detroit, 6-1, on Oct. 23, and recording a 3-0 shutout on Nov. 2. Both games took place at the Bell Centre.

According to Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, Detroit fell short in those contests for different reasons.

The Red Wings would prefer not to repeat the performance they had just 11 days ago on the road.

“They were probably a little bit different games,” Blashill said. “The last game, I thought we played poorly. It was the worst game, I think, we’ve played all season in terms of how we actually played, in terms of our energy. We were a step behind the whole night, and it was an egg for us. It was just one of those nights.”

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings held a morning skate ahead of tonight’s game vs. the Montreal Canadiens (7 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit Plus/City TV/Sportsnet East/TVA Sports/97.1 FM), and it appears that Jake Allen and Alex Nedeljkovic will start opposite one another in goal.

After the morning skate, the Red Wings spoke with the media:

Michael Rasmussen’s keys to picking up a win against MTL, after falling to them twice this season: “Stick to our game plan. We have not played to our structure. Can’t give them big chances or looks. Gotta keep playing hard and playing for each other and take care of the puck.”— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) November 13, 2021

Michael Rasmussen says watching Luke Glendening last year has really helped his game #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) November 13, 2021

Coach Blashill says he feels this team has helped re-establish the culture of this organization. I couldn’t agree more #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) November 13, 2021

TSN 690 Montreal’s Sergio Momesso also said, “Hello”:

#tsn690 little Caesar’s one of the best arena s to broadcast games but still pretty hard to beat the atmosphere at the old Joe Louis pic.twitter.com/HbCWOMkCOP— Sergio Momesso (@SergioMomesso36) November 13, 2021

And TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie confirmed that Nedeljkovic is starting tonight:

Alex Nedeljkovic vs @CanadiensMTL @DetroitRedWings @TVASports— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) November 13, 2021

Among the Montreal Gazette’s Pat Hickey’s game notes are the following:

The Detroit Red Wings (7-6-and-2) face the Montreal Canadiens (4-10-and-1) this evening (7 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit Plus/Sportsnet East/City TV/TVA Sports/97.1 FM).

The first indication that we received that the Red Wings were skating at all came from the team…

MTL vs DET → 7:00pm.

?: https://t.co/a1ZFiGyALB pic.twitter.com/Ic3gKiWASO— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) November 13, 2021

There are also at least no surprises on this list from the Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan:

Complete rosters for tonight’s game between the #Habs and Red Wings in Detroit #HabsIO: pic.twitter.com/yakw7NIwEC— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) November 13, 2021

Le Journal de Montreal’s J-F Chaumont offered the Wings’ probable lines vs. Montreal:

La formation probable des Red Wings.

Bertuzzi-Larkin-Raymond
Zadina-Suter-Fabbri
Namestnikov-Rasmussen-Erne
Gagner-Mitchell-Rowney

DeKeyser-Seider
Leddy-Hronek
Staal-Lindstrom

Nedeljkovic— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) November 13, 2021

Sportsnet also said, “Hello”:

Nothing says Saturday night like an Original Six matchup! ?@CanadiensMTL or @DetroitRedWings: who ya got? ?#NHLonSN | @NHL pic.twitter.com/Gn32F0FaXw— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 13, 2021

MLive’s Ansar Khan and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan both profiled Red Wings forward Givani Smith on Friday afternoon. Smith hasn’t been at his best thus far, and so Khan discusses Smith’s struggles in terms of establishing a physical presence…

“He’s a big body that has talent that we’re going to keep working with to help him become a good player here,” coach Jeff Blashill said.

Smith has played 12 games and is the only Red Wing without a point, averaging less ice time than anyone else (8:00). He logged less than six minutes in each of the past two games.

The Red Wings (7-6-2) host Montreal (4-10-1) on Saturday (7 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit Plus). The struggling Canadiens won the first two games between the clubs, 6-1 and 3-0 in Montreal. This is their final meeting. If all of their forwards are available, Blashill could opt to sit Smith and dress Carter Rowney.

Smith showed flashes of his potential last season, most notably in a 4-1 victory at Florida on Feb. 7, when he recorded a “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” – a goal, an assist, and a fighting major.

“I think there were moments last year,” Blashill said. “I wouldn’t say it was the whole time he was up. He kind of worked his way from a really good game and then became a healthy scratch at some point. It’s something that he’s still learning.

“Unfortunately for him, early in the season he took a penalty a game, and I ended up sitting him. You don’t want to go to the box, and he’s maybe playing a little more careful. Obviously, Givani can’t do that either, so he’s got to find a balance of being able to play really hard, get underneath other guys’ skin without taking penalties. That’s a hard balance at times. As a young player he’s learning that.

“Now he’s got to work to earn a little bit more trust from me, so that he gets more ice time. Right now, he’s not on either specialty team, and he doesn’t get a whole lot of ice time.”

And the Detroit News’s Kulfan offers a similar take:

Wings fans on social media have been wanting to see Smith be more assertive, more of a physical force. That’s the way he played in a brief stay with the Wings last season.

Smith has been in one fight this season, with Calgary’s Milan Lucic. But again, the lack of playing time has resulted in Smith not being able to be physical.

“If you said to me why hasn’t had a bigger physical impact on a game to game basis, I would say it was because he hasn’t had the ice time,” Blashill said. “That’s hard to do when you haven’t had the ice time.”

The Wings want Smith to play hard.

“Whistle to whistle and get out of the scrums,” Blashill said. He was in a lot of scrums and ended up taking penalties. We want him to stay away from the hooking and holding — those aren’t intimidating penalties.”

Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson and Team Sweden are participating in the Four Nations Cup, an under-20 team event that serves as the final tune-up prior to the World Junior Championship this weekend. According to Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen, Edvinsson really impressed in yesterday’s 5-0 win for Team Sweden:

A source, with ties to the Swedish team, told Detroit Hockey Now that Edvinssson “was a monster” in the game.

“He looks better than Rasmus Dahlin did at the same age,” the source said. “He has the same offensive game and is much stronger.”

Simon Edvinsson, 18, plays at high-caliber level for Frolunda in the Swedish League. He has one goal and eight assists for nine points in 16 games. He owns a +7 plus-minus. The 6-foot-4 defenseman suffered a minor injury, but it wasn’t serious enough to keep him out of the Four Nations Tournament. Edvinsson will play for Sweden’s U-20 at the World Junior Championships.

Edvinsson is a full-service defenseman. He plays physical, is mindful of his defensive play and carries the puck with authority.

“You have to go back to Victor Hedman to find a comparable Swedish D-man, aged 18,” the source said. “The Red Wings have a gem in Simon.”

Continued

My apologies for the lack of posts Friday. I had a sustained panic attack that pretty much incapacitated me on Friday afternoon/evening.

I’ll do my best to get back to work later Saturday morning.