Lyon Returns as Red Wings Host Flyers

Tonight at Little Caesars Arena, the Detroit Red Wings (12-14-4) will look to make it two wins in a row when the Philadelphia Flyers (14-13-4) come to town.  Five days ago, the Flyers beat Detroit 4–1 in Philadelphia on a night when the Red Wings' puck management led to a second period onslaught from the home side.  Tonight, Detroit will look to avenge that result.

Against a heavy, defense first outfit coached by John Tortorella, playing from behind—as the Red Wings saw in Philadelphia on the 13th—is seldom a winning formula.  When asked by The Hockey News what makes the Flyers a difficult side to come back against, Detroit coach Derek Lalonde replied, "I just think the depth.  They have a true really productive NHL fourth line.  I say that because it's not that fourth lines [are] disappearing in the league, but you see it different sometimes.  Look at us last year, we had 60 goals on our fourth line last year.  It's just a little bit different, but it's a true heavy, checking, win-your-shift fourth line, and they're top nine is some physical[ity] and skill sprinkled throughout.  It's a really good, deep team."

Meanwhile, the Red Wings will be looking to build on their offensive successes against the Toronto Maple Leafs their last time out Saturday.  When asked about the strengths of that performance, winger Alex DeBrincat said, "I think we did a lot of things that we've been lacking on a lot this year.  We got a lot of traffic to the net.  That first goal, just shooting from the point, getting a lot of shots on net, and creating off of that.  I think when we shot a lot more we can get pucks back and have some more O zone time, so I think that helped us in that game."

DeBrincat went on to explain the ways throwing pucks and bodies toward the net can open up the rest of Detroit's attack.  "If there's a rebound, I think it's always a 50-50 battle in the corner, and if we win that, they might be a little disorganized, so I think it helps create a lot.  You just gotta win the battle and try to attack after that...Sometimes just getting the puck to the net and going off of that is great.  Sometimes it'll go in, you get a flukey goal and get energy that way, or you get extended O zone time and just feel good about the chances you're getting and keep going that way."

Tonight at LCA, the Red Wings will look to keep creating chaos around the net as they did Saturday with a shot-first mentality and an eagerness to recover loose pucks.

Lineup

Detroit will get a boost in net tonight in the form of Alex Lyon, who returns to action for the first time since Nov. 25.  Lyon—who has a .911 save percentage and 2.74 goals against average in nine outings this season (eight of them starts)— will get the start tonight.  He will do so behind the same defense corps with which the Red Wings knocked off Toronto (i.e. rookie Albert Johansson will remain the healthy scratch).

Meanwhile, rookie center Marco Kasper will fold back into the forward group after missing the Leafs game due to illness.  He will replace Jonatan Berggren, who will be this evening's healthy scratch up front.

Where to Watch

Tonight's game is a scheduled 7 pm start.  It will be a national broadcast on TNT and TruTV on conventional television and MAX on streaming, with no local (i.e. FanDuel Sports Network Detroit) coverage.

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