Updated. Fabbri will play tonight. He will be rocking Nyquist’s old #14
Mlive is reporting that Robby Fabbri “might” make his debut tonight.
Mlive article
Winging it in Motown did a “best guess” version of the lineup
winging it in Motown link
The best guess lines came out like this:
Bert-Larkin-Mantha
AA-Filppula-Fabbri
Perlini-Nielsen-Hirose
Helm-Ehn-Erne
Nemeth-Hronek
Cholowski-Green
McIlrath-Bowey
Bernier
Howard
The gap in the teams numbers and performance are significant. For example, the Red Wings have a goals for of 35(and goals against of 68). The Bruins top line has combined for 32 goals. The Bruins as a team have 56 goals for and 35 against. A +21 goal differential compared to the wings -33. That stat by itself marks for a clear picture of how this contest could go. The Wings are giving up double the goals they score, and the bruins are scoring 1.6 more goals than they are giving up. Opposite ends of the spectrum.
The Scotty Bowman special teams numbers are 12.7%PP versus a 66.7% PK for a combined special teams number of 79.4%. The Bruins come in with a league leading 31.4% PP and the 5th best PK at 86.7% for a combined special teams number of 118.1%. A better than 30 point gap between the two teams.
Tuukka Rask has a 1.88 GAA and .936 SA%. Halak is at 2.83 and .917. For the Wings Bernier is 3.51 GAA and .887 SA% and Howard is in at 3.99GAA and also .887SA%. Nothing on paper stacks up in the Red Wings favor tonight.
Steve Yzerman has tinkered with the roster and while the pickups of Fabbri and Perlini may pan out well, there isn’t anything suggesting that Detroit could gain the edge against the Boston Bruins tonight. The loss 5-1 to NYR could be the starting point for tonight’s contest.
So, what should be expected? Effort and positional play. Keep shifts short. Avoid Dzone turnovers, try to get the puck deep. Importantly, stay out of the penalty box. Pastrnak is on an absolute tear offensively. Marchand and Bergeron both have the ability to come up big. 5 on 5 those matchups will be difficult, 4 on 5 they could be near impossible.
Detroit needs to take this game shift by shift. It could be overwhelming to try and think ahead too far, and damaging to lose focus. To be competitive, Detroit will need spectacular goal tending. Boston is the type of team that could beat you even if your goalie pitches a shutout. If the Wings managed to acquire a single point in tonight’s tilt, consider that a big victory and step in the right direction.
Dylan Larkin is trying to stay positive. Impressively, he did some fundraising for the Special Olympics and spoke at a dinner in Waterford this week. He even helped provide new shoes, hats and duffle bags for the participants. Dylan is giving back at an extremely difficult time, and that is just one more impressive part of his character. You can read about the event here
Larkin’s charity event
Larkin’s impressive resilience and dedication during a rough stretch has endeared him to the fan base. He is out there making sure there are positives for this club even during a rebuild. That is impressive and difficult to pull off. The character that is shining through should certainly give confidence that the team is in good hands moving forward. This year is already being looked at as the most difficult in a long time, possibly in a generation. It’s incredible to see players, coaching staff and management try to inject hope and belief in the process and direction of the club.
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