Yahoo Sports Red Wings Prioritize First Three Shifts vs. Challenging Lightning
After Thursday's win over the defending champion Florida Panthers, the schedule doesn't get any gentler for the Detroit Red Wings. Tonight, they will play the first leg of a back-to-back with travel against the Lightning in Tampa, before taking on the Stars tomorrow evening in Dallas—two playoff tested opponents in the space of 24 hours.
Per coach Todd McLellan after morning skate, the Red Wings will take on the Bolts with the same lineup that won in South Florida, down to goaltender Cam Talbot. McLellan described Alex Lyon—out since the seventh of the month—as "possible" for tomorrow night's game against the Stars. Presumably, Talbot will not play both ends of the back-to-back, so if Lyon can't go, it will likely be Ville Husso in net in Dallas. Meanwhile, McLellan did rule out Tyler Motte (who suffered an apparent upper body injury in the Red Wings' final home game before the present four-game road trip) for the remainder of the trip (i.e. through at least Tuesday night's game in Philadelphia).
Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
When asked about the challenge of facing the Lightning, McLellan said, "Top scoring team in the league per game, They are what they are. They can flat out put it in the net, and they've got some superstars that play a lot, and they play in important situations. You don't want to get into a track meet with this team. Four and five, those numbers favor Tampa Bay I think against any team."
Though longtime stalwart and captain Steven Stamkos left for Nashville in free agency last summer, the cupboard is far from bereft of offensive stars in Tampa. The Bolts signed Jake Guentzel as a direct Stamkos replacement, fitting in on an elite level top line with Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov.
"Penalty kill's been strong," McLellan added. "They've got veteran players that play in that situation. They understand their roles. The guy putting on the pads [goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy] is usually their best penalty killer, and he has been for years, so there's challenges all over the rink against Tampa."
When asked about the challenge of Detroit's forthcoming schedule (the league's most difficult over the remainder of the season, featuring the most road games for any team), McLellan offered the sort of answer you'd expect from a veteran coach, prioritizing the immediate future over the rest of the season.
"It's the first three shifts of this game that we're really looking at," McLellan said. "I know we gotta go out west later on this month, but I don't know or really care the strength of schedule. It doesn't matter. You have to play everybody. You gotta play 'em at some point, and you gotta play 'em on that given night. So we'll worry about that once we get to it."
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