Red Wings travel to play red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins

The Detroit Red Wings look to get back to .500 tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.  The Red Wings have lost three straight and are 5-12-3 on the road.

Before losing 2-1 in OT against Seattle last night, the Penguins had won seven straight games.

Game time tonight is 7:00 PM ET in Pittsburgh, PA.

Player Focus: Top Scorers

Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi have been terrific for the Detroit Red Wings this season.  They started the season on the same line with rookie Lucas Raymond.  Recently, they were split up in a successful attempt to get a second line going.  They play together on the top power play unit.  They are currently tied for the Red Wings scoring lead.

Dylan Larkin looks rejuvenated this season.  After a down season one year ago, Larkin is healthy and seems to be on the score sheet every night.  In 38 games, Larkin has 20 goals, 18 assists, and 38 points with a +4 rating.  One year ago, Larkin played 44 games and scored nine goals, 14 assists, and 23 points with a -14 rating.

Tyler Bertuzzi has been outstanding when he has been in the lineup for Detroit.  Last season, Bertuzzi played the first nine games of the season and had five goals and seven points.  With Bertuzzi healthy for most of this season, he is tied with Larkin with 20 goals, 18 assists, and 38 points in 35 games.  He has also been the team leader in +/- all season and currently has a +13 rating.

Red Wings Notes

• Detroit are currently 5th in the Atlantic Division with an 18-19-6 record
• The Red Wings special teams are currently ranked 28th in the NHL, PP 15.2%, PK 77.7%
• Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi lead Detroit with 20 goals and 38 points each
• Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond lead the Red Wings with 23 assists each
• Seider leads all Detroit defensemen in scoring with 27 points in 43 games
• Bertuzzi continues to lead the Red Wings with a +13 rating
• Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to start and has a 12-11-5 record, 2.89 GAA, and .912 SV% in 31 games

Detroit Projected Lineup

Forwards

Vladislav Namestnikov – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond

Robby Fabbri – Pius Suter – Tyler Bertuzzi

Filip Zadina – Michael Rasmussen – Adam Erne

Givani Smith – Joe Veleno – Sam Gagner

Defensemen

Danny DeKeyser – Moritz Seider

Marc Staal – Filip Hronek

Nick Leddy – Jordan Oesterle

Goaltenders

Alex Nedeljkovic (starter)

Calvin Pickard

Not in lineup

Riley Barber (lower body), Carter Rowney (undisclosed), Thomas Greiss (COVID-19), Gustav Lindstrom (undisclosed)

Penguins Notes

• Pittsburgh are currently tied for 1st in the Metropolitan Division with a 27-10-6 record
• The Penguins special teams are currently ranked 7th in the NHL, PP 19.4%, PK 88.6%
• Jake Guentzel leads Pittsburgh with 21 goals and 40 points in 36 games
• Kris Letang leads the Penguins with 33 assists in 39 games
• Letang also leads Pittsburgh with a +18 rating
• Backup goaltender Casey DeSmith is expected to start and has a 3-3-1 record, 3.58 GAA, and .886 SV% in 9 games
• Penguins veteran forward, Jeff Carter, signed a new two-year contract extension with the team on Wednesday

Pittsburgh Projected Lineup

Forwards

Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Danton Heinen – Evgeni Malkin – Kasperi Kapanen

Evan Rodrigues – Jeff Carter – Brock McGinn

Zach Aston-Reese – Brian Boyle – Dominik Simon

Defensemen

Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson – John Marino

Michael Matheson – Chad Ruhwedel

Goaltenders

Casey DeSmith (starting)

Tristan Jarry

Not in lineup

Mark Friedman (healthy), Radim Zohorna (healthy)