Detroit Red Wings @ San Jose Sharks: Gameday Updates, Lineups, Keys to the Game

Forwards

Tyler Bertuzzi – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond
Adam Erne – Andrew Copp – Dominik Kubalik
Oskar Sundqvist – Michael Rasmussen – David Perron
Jonatan Berggren – Joe Veleno – Pius Suter

Defense

Ben Chiarot – Moritz Seider
Olli Maata – Filip Hronek
Jake Walman – Jordan Oesterle

Goaltenders

Ville Husso
Alex Nedeljkovic

Forwards

Timo Meier – Tomas Hertl – Kevin Labanc
Matt Nieto – Logan Couture – Alexander Barbanov
Nick Bonino – Marco Sturm – Luke Kunin
Oskar Lindblom – Steven Lorentz – Evgeny Svechnikov

Defense

Jaycob Megna – Erik Karlsson
Marc-Eduoard Vlasic – Matt Benning
Nick Cicek – Mario Ferraro

Goaltenders

James Reimer
Kaapo Kakhonen

Quell Karlsson

Former and possibly future Ottawa Senators star Erik Karlsson has had himself a renaissance to start the season. After a run of subpar seasons, Karlsson finds himself as the NHL’s sixth-leading scorer after a month-plus of play. Beyond his statline, however, it’s HOW Karlsson plays that could complicate matters for Detroit. He’s almost being used as a “position-less” hockey player… sometimes staying in formation on the right side of the blueline, sometimes cycling to the left, and sometimes jumping into the play or carrying the puck down low to become a de facto fourth forward. If the Red Wings lose track of Karlsson, he’s a risk to create odd-man opportunities and mismatches for the defense.

Dictate the Play

One of the Wings’ weaknesses this season has been their play at 5v5. The Red Wings are 30th in the NHL at even-strength CF% this year at 43.6%. For those unfamiliar with advanced stats, that essentially means the Red Wings’ opponents are getting 56% of the scoring chances during games, and in even more basic terms, it means the other team is controlling play the majority of the game. That needs to change if the Wings want to make a serious run this season. With Bertuzzi back in the lineup and Lucas Raymond slowly starting to find his footing, the weapons are there to keep the Sharks on their heels and rack up prime scoring chances; they just need the execution the make it happen.

FACEOFFS

Want to start a power play on a high note? Win the faceoff! Want to keep the opposing offense from being able to set up for a scoring chance. Win the defensive zone faceoff! Want to control the play coming out of any stoppage in the game? WIN THE FACEOFF. That’s been a sore point for the Red Wings this year. A number of opportunities have been squandered because the Red Wings couldn’t corral the faceoff in the offensive zone. Michael Rasmussen’s goal Tuesday against the Ducks is a prime example of what COULD happen when the Red Wings win the faceoff in a prime spot. If they can do that more often, you’ll likely see more success at controlling the play.