Red Wings vs. Capitals: Notes, Lines, Goalies, How to Watch

The Red Wings have nowhere to go but up on the  Eastern Conference when they take on the Washington Capitals in a late-afternoon game at Little Caesars Arena.

It will be their second game under new coach Todd McLellan, who put them through their paces in a Saturday practice. But they’ll face another test in the Capitals, whose nine losses are the second fewest in the NHL.

The Caps also have Alex Ovechkin back in the lineup. He returned to the ice Saturday night in Toronto where he scored a goal in resuming his quest to pass Wayne Gretzky in the all-time scoring list. He’s now 26 goals away from the record.

But the Red Wings have bigger worries than the record book. They’re trying to get over that stale feeling that ultimately led to Derek Lalonde’s dismissal the day after Christmas.

They have lost four in a row and nine of 12 games in December. McLellan is a new voice in the room, to be sure, but the Red Wings’ fall this season has been an ongoing process, and it will take a while to turn around.

The Red Wings are currently tied with Buffalo for last in the East, eight points out of a playoff spot, something that’s true but increasingly irrelevant given their current struggles.

But it also has to gnaw at the Red Wings that last season they tied Washington for the final playoff spot only to miss the postseason on a tiebreaker. Currently, they are 20 points behind the Caps.

The Matchup

Who: Red Wings vs. Capitals

Where: Little Caesars Arena

When: 5 p.m.

TV/Radio: FanDuel/97.1 FM

Red Wings projected lineup

Joe Veleno — Dylan Larkin — Lucas Raymond

Patrick Kane — Andrew Copp — Alex DeBrincat

Vladimir Tarasenko — J.T. Compher — Jonatan Berggren

Michael Rasmussen — Marco Kasper — Christian Fischer

Defensive Pairings

Ben Chiarot — Moritz Seider

Simon Edvinsson — Jeff Petry

Erik Gustafsson — Justin Holl

Goalies

Alex Lyon — Cam Talbot

Washington projected lineup

Aliaksei Protas — Dylan Strome — Alex Ovechkin

Connor McMichael — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson

Andrew Mangiapane — Hendrix Lapierre — Jakub Vrana

Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Taylor Raddysh

Defensive Pairings

Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson

Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy

Jakob Chychrun — Trevor van Riemsdyk

Goalies

Charlie Lindgren — Logan Thompson