The Detroit Red Wings (4-3-3) play their third game of their four-game Western road trip tonight with a game against the Calgary Flames (3-6-0). The Red Wings have secured at least one point in six consecutive games and seven of their last eight.
The Red Wings are one point out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and the Flames are already five points back in the West. They sit 30th out of 32 NHL teams in the overall standings.
Where: Scotiabank Saddledome
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TV/Radio: DSN/97.1 FM
Odds: Detroit (-1.5, +170), Calgary (+1.5, -205), DRAFTKINGS
Hot: Detroit’s defense and goaltending is holding opponents to 2.8 goals per game. That ranks eighth in the NHL.
Not: Detroit’s offensive production (2.7 goals per game) is tied for 22nd among NHL teams after their first 10 games.
Spotlight: Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s eight points in 10 games ties him with San Jose’s Ivar Stenberg for first place among the NHL’s rookie scorers.
Story: Will Michal Postava get his first NHL start today? John Gibson got something in his eye and couldn’t play the third period in the win against Vancouver.
We can presume he will be ready to play, but the Red Wings haven’t revealed their starting goalie. If Postava doesn’t play tonight, he will likely play Monday against Edmonton.
Postava was called up, on an emergency basis, to replace Daniil Tarasov who tweaked something in Monday’s practice. He looked comfortable in his one period of work, giving up one goal on eight shots.
Alex DeBrincat has four goals and three assists for seven points in his past five games. Axel Sandin Pellikka has played seven games this season and is minus-1.
Injuries: Marco Kasper (upper body, week-to-week). Mason Appleton (upper body), week-to-week.
Neither player is on the road trip; JT Compher (undisclosed), day-to-day. Tarasov (Undisclosed) day-to-day.
Detroit Projected Lines
Alex DeBrincat — Emmitt Finnie — Victor Arvidsson
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard — Dylan Larkin — Lucas Raymond
Michael Rasmussen – Andrew Copp — Carter Mazur
Nate Danielson – JT Compher — Keegan Kolesar
Defense Pairings
Albert Johansson — Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot — Anton Johansson
William Wallinder — Justin Faulk
Goalies
John Gibson or Michal Postava
Subs, Andreas Englund, Alek Sandin-Pellikka
Calgary Flames
Story: The Flames are coming off an impressive 2-1 over the Minnesota Wild at home. They have won two in a row.
They rank 31st in scoring (2.11 goals per game) and 31st in goals against (4.22). Injuries: Mikael Backlund (upper body), day-to-day; Samuel Honzek (lower body) and Jonathan Huberdeau (hip), both on IR
Projected Lines
Aydar Suniev — Morgan Frost – Yegor Sharangovich
Joel Farabee — Ben Jones — Matt Coronato
Matvei Gridin – Martin Pospisil — Ryan Strome
Brennan Othmann — Jonathan Castagna — Adam Klapka
Defense Pairings
Kevin Bahl — Simon Nemec
Jake Middleton — Zach Whitecloud
Yan Kuznetsov — Zayne Parekh
Goalies
Devin Cooley or Dustin Wolf
Subs: Maksim Tsyplakov, Joel Hanley
By Kevin Allen
Kevin has written professionally for almost 50 years. He was USA TODAY's lead hockey writer from 1986 to 2019.
