Red Wings at Sharks: Notes, Lines, Goalies, How to Watch

You could say the Detroit Red Wings are looking to get back on track tonight when they finish their West Coast swing in San Jose.

But it wouldn’t be too far off track to suggest the team needs to get out of the season rut they’ve been in.

Tonight’s matchup is between a pair of teams going nowhere fast with one-fifth of the season gone.

No one expected much from the Sharks.  who were last in the league last year.

The Red Wings, on the other hand, missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker last season and were expected to make a push this year, too.

Detroit’s slow start has started speculation about the future of coach Derek Lalonde.

There’s no indication of dissatisfaction with Lalonde from the tight-lipped Detroit front office, which has been silent on the matter. A coaching change in midseason would be a bit of a surprise. The Wings haven’t done so in more than 40 years.

The Red Wings are currently near the bottom of the NHL in scoring, goals against and penalty-kill efficiency.

Tonight is a chance for the Wings to catch up with a couple of last year’s teammates now in San Jose.

Klim Kostin and Jake Walman are likely to play for the Sharks, who also feature top drat pick Macklin Celebrini on their second line.

The Matchup

Who: Detroit at San Jose

Where: SAP Center

When: 10;30 p.m.

TV/Radio: FSSN/97.1 FM

Detroit Lines
DeBrincat-Larkin-Raymond
Copp-Compher-Tarasenko
Berggren-Kasper-Kane
Rasmussen-Veleno-Fischer

Defensive Pairings
Chiarot-Seider
Holl-Petry
Gustafsson-Johansson

Goalies
Talbot-Lyon

San Jose Lines

William Eklund-Mikael Granlund-Fabian Zetterlund
Barclay Goodrow-Macklin Celebrini-Will Smith
Ty Dellandrea-Alex Wennberg-Tyler Toffoli
Klim Kostin-Luke Kunin-Carl Grundstrom

Defensive Pairings
Henry Thrun-Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro-Timothy Liljegren
Jake Walman-Jan Rutta

Goalies
Mackenzie Blackwood-Vitek Vanecek