Red Wings Need This One As Alex DeBrincat Starts Heating Up

In a pivotal early-season clash, the Red Wings and Flyers each aim to break their respective slumps and gain much-needed momentum.

The Detroit Red Wings are trying to shake off a three-game skid on Thursday, and they’ll have to do it against a Philadelphia Flyers team that is still searching for its first win of the season.

Detroit has come up empty in its last two outings in overtime, including a 5-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday in a game that turned into a track meet. That leaves the Red Wings looking for a clean break from a stretch that has them chasing a bounce before the slide grows any longer.

The challenge on the other side is a Flyers club in a brutal early-season hole. Philadelphia is 0-8 to start the year, a shocking start for a team that made the postseason and won a playoff series over the Pittsburgh Penguins just months ago. The offense has gone quiet with several key players not producing at the level expected.

Trevor Zegras leads the Flyers with only three points through eight games, while Porter Martone has just one point in his first full NHL season. Martone had joined the lineup late last season and caught fire quickly, but that momentum has not carried over to this opening stretch.

Detroit’s projected lines for the game are Danielson, Larkin and Arvidsson; DeBrincat, Finnie and Brandsegg-Nygard; Rasmussen, Copp and Raymond; and Dries, Mazur and Kolesar.

On defense, the Red Wings are expected to go with Chiarot and Seider, Albert Johansson and Faulk, and Englund and Anton Johansson. Gibson is listed in goal.

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