Todd McLellan is trying to jolt a slumping Red Wings team back to life.
After five straight losses, Detroit is making lineup changes for Saturday evening’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning, including a switch in goal and a return for Michael Rasmussen. The Red Wings enter the game at 7-10-3 after a rough Thursday night in Florida, where they blew a 4-1 lead and watched the Panthers score four unanswered goals in a 5-4 loss.
Daniil Tarasov is getting the start in net, with John Gibson backing him up. Gibson gave up five goals on 29 shots against the Panthers, which helped set up the change.
Tarasov has given Detroit dependable goaltending so far, but the problems run deeper than one position. The Red Wings are going to have to clean up defensively if they want to snap the skid.
McLellan is also reworking his forward group. Rasmussen is back in after being a healthy scratch against Florida, and he replaces Mason Appleton. His return comes after McLellan said just two days earlier that Rasmussen’s level of play had slipped, giving the forward a quick chance to answer that message.
Detroit’s projected lines have Alex DeBrincat skating with Emmitt Finnie and Victor Arvidsson, while Michael Brandsegg-Nygard joins Andrew Copp and Lucas Raymond. Carter Mazur is still projected to stay in the lineup alongside J.T. Compher and Marco Kasper, and Sheldon Dries centers Rasmussen and Keegan Kolesar.
On defense, the projected pairings are Ben Chiarot with Moritz Seider, William Wallinder with Justin Faulk, and Andreas Englund with Anton Johansson.
The Red Wings listed no injuries in NHL.com’s November 14 projected lineup report. Mason Appleton is scratched. Dylan Larkin remains suspended without pay amid the ongoing trade situation, and Simon Edvinsson remains unsigned and unavailable to play.
Tampa Bay presents a tough test. The Lightning are undefeated at home this season, and Detroit’s offense has been too inconsistent to make much room for error. The Red Wings are averaging just 2.65 goals per game, and several forwards have struggled to produce regularly.
Still, the formula for ending a losing streak is simple enough: find one win and stop the bleeding. Detroit is hoping Saturday is the night that happens.
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