The Detroit Red Wings will head into the second game of a home-and-home with the New York Rangers on Thursday night with an early season record of 1-2-0. It’s been a weird three games to open the year. Game one’s loss at home was a 6-3 shellacking at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins. It appeared as though the Red Wings thought it was still preseason. In fairness, the Penguins had already played a game and were blown out 6-0 at home by the New York Rangers.
The second game of the year was newly added netminder Cam Talbot stealing the show, blanking the Nashville Predators 3-0. Talbot had a little help from his friends, led by Moritz Seider, with his eight hits and seven blocked shots. The third game of the year was unfortunate. The Red Wings outplayed the Rangers for the majority of the contest but found themselves stonewalled by Igor Shesterkin.
As head coach Derek Lalonde said following the game, he looks like a $12 million goaltender and saw why he turned down an apparent eight-year $88 million contract extension. Lalonde followed that comment with ‘good agent.’ Of course, it was a snarky comment that was somewhat blown out of proportion by the masses online, but you must admit, it was pretty comical.
A couple of quick game notes before we dive into things. Rangers alternate captain Chris Kreider did not practice on Wednesday due to an illness and is questionable heading into Thursday’s game. Kreider is making the trip to Detroit, the first of a quick three-game road trip.
On Detroit’s side of things, Justin Holl was sent down to Grand Rapids on Tuesday and recalled on Wednesday in what was just a paper move. Holl will be in Detroit’s lineup as Jeff Petry remains sidelined with an upper-body injury, and his status remains day-to-day. Next, Austin Watson was also sent back to Grand Rapids, with Christian Fischer appearing 50/50 to return to the lineup. If he’s unable to go, Watson will likely substitute again. Erik Gustafsson is expected to return to the lineup following being a healthy scratch in favor of rookie Albert Johansson for the past two games. A questionable decision with how well Johansson has performed in limited action. Detroit hopes Gustafsson can enhance their lackluster power play. Cam Talbot is getting the nod in goal.
