The Detroit Red Wings will open their home schedule for the 2023-24 season as they welcome in Atlantic Division rival the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Red Wings are coming in off a 4-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils to open the season, while the Lightning are coming in off a 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators on opening night.
Detroit Red Wings (0-1-0, 0 Points) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (1-0-0, 2 Points)
When: Saturday, March 14
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Little Cesar’s Arena (Detroit, MI)
TV: Bally Sports Detroit
Scoring Leaders
What To Watch
The Lighting will be without their superstar goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for this one as he is out for the first few months of the season, so Tampa Bay will be relying on Jonah Johansson and Matt Tomkins for the first few months as they look to keep pace and tread until Vasilevskiy returns.
Former Detroit Red Wing Luke Glendening will return to Detroit to face his former team. Glendening played for the Red Wings for the first eight seasons of his career, putting up 126 points on 57 goals and 69 assists in 554 games.
Robby Fabbri is expected to not play in this one as he is day-to-day and did not practice on Friday. It was mentioned as not serious, and he’s not expected to be out long.
By The Numbers:
Red Wings Player to Watch: Alex DeBrincat
DeBrincat is in his seventh season in the NHL, having played with the Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators, and now the Red Wings. He has played 451 games and scored 374 points on 188 goals and 186 assists. On Thursday, he played in his first game as a Red Wing, and he recorded a point coming on a power-play goal in the third period that tied the game at 2-2.
Alex DeBrincat’s Line Assignments
DeBrincat will play on the wing of Dylan Larkin, and Lucas Raymond will be on the other wing. DeBrincat is on the first power-play unit alongside Larkin, Raymond, Moritz Seider, and Shayne Gostisbehere.
DeBrincat’s career vs. Tampa Bay
In his career against Tampa Bay, DeBrincat has played in 18 games and has recorded a point-a-game average in every game, putting up 18 points on ten goals and eight assists, and he is a minus-one career against them. Last season against the Lightning, he played in three games, recording five points coming on three goals and two assists, and he was a plus-three.
Between the Pipes:
Detroit: Ville Husso (0-1-0, 3.11 ERA)
Husso got the start on Thursday in the season opener, and he took the loss despite looking solid in net and dropped to 0-1-0; he stopped 23 of the 26 shots he saw for a .885 save percentage. Last season against Tampa Bay, Husso made all four starts, going 2-2-0, giving up 12 goals on 132 shots; in his career against the Lightning, he has played in five games, going 2-3-0, giving up 16 goals against 167 shots.
Tampa Bay: Jonas Johansson (1-0-0, 3.00 GAA) (Probable)
Johansson started against the Predators on Tuesday and got the win to improve to 1-0-0; he stopped 28 of the 31 shots he faced for a .903 save percentage. He has only played in one game against the Red Wings, and in that game, he stopped 18 of 21 shots and took a loss in extra time; that came in 2020 when he was with Buffalo.
Wrap Up
Tonight will be the first game for J.T. Compher, DeBrincat, Christian Fischer, Shayne Gostisbehere, Justin Holl, Klim Kostin, Jeff Petry, and Daniel Sprong at Little Cesar’s Arena and their first taste of one of the best hockey cities in the National Hockey League if not the world. Look for the Red Wings to come out fueled by the crowd against the Lightning, a game I am sure Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman and Red Wings Head Coach Derek LaLonde would love to win as they face their former team.
In their last ten meetings, the Red Wings are 4-6-0 and outscored 31-25. Last season against the Lighting, the Red Wings split their season series with each team winning two games each, and the Lightning outscored the Red Wings 14-11
