Detroit Red Wings introduce new look on the ice for tilt vs. Islanders
The Detroit Red Wings are back on home ice tonight - and they're introducing some new line combinations in an effort to jumpstart the offense.
The Red Wings and New York Islanders will get together on Thursday night for the second time in just under a month, this time facing off at Little Caesars Arena (7:00 PM, FanDuel Sports Detroit, 97.1 The Ticket).
For the Red Wings, it's a pivotal matchup following their fruitless three-game Western road swing that resulted in their descent to second-to-last place in the Atlantic Division.
Currently, they're tied with the Montreal Canadiens with 16 points apiece (with one game in hand). They're also tied for the fewest points in the Eastern Conference.
Before facing the Islanders, Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde has once again whipped out the blender and shuffled the lines, attempting to help cure Detroit's 5-on-5 scoring woes.
According to MLive's Ansar Khan, Vladimir Tarasenko has been slotted onto Detroit's top line and will skate alongside Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond.
Signed during the summer from the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, the two goals that Tarasenko has scored isn't the kind of production they need or expect from him.
Additionally, rookie Marco Kasper joins the second line alongside Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat; he's scored twice in his last three games.
Struggling veteran J.T. Compher will be on the Red Wings' fourth line; he had previously been centering their second line.
Lucas Raymond - Dylan Larkin - Vladimir Tarasenko
AlexDeBrincat - Marco Kasper - Patrick Kane
Michael Rasmussen - Andrew Copp - Christian Fischer
Jonatan Berggren - J.T. Compher - Joe Veleno/TylerMotte
Simon Edvinsson - Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot - Jeff Petry
Erik Gustafsson - Justin Holl/AlbertJohansson
Alex Lyon has been given the start; he previously shut out the Islanders on October 22 with 30 saves in Detroit's 1-0 win.
| POLL | ||
What will the result of tonight's Red Wings vs. Islanders matchup be? | ||
