The Detroit Red Wings are currently riding a three-winning streak, which is their third three or more-game winning streak this season. Their most recent win came on Tuesday over the Buffalo Sabres, winning that one 5-3. The Sharks are coming in off a win as well, as they beat the New York Islanders on Tuesday 5-4 in overtime.
Detroit Red Wings (14-7-3, 31 Points) vs. San Jose Sharks (7-17-2, 16 Points)
When: Thursday, December 7
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesar’s Arena (Detroit, MI)
TV: Bally Sports Detroit
Scoring Leaders
Detroit Red Wings
Points: Alex DeBrincat – 24
Goals: Alex DeBrincat – 13
Assists: Dylan Larkin -14
San Jose Sharks
Points: Tomas Hertl – 21
Goals: Tomas Hertl – 7
Assists: Tomas Hertl – 14
Expected Line Combinations
Detroit Red Wings
Robby Fabbri – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat – Joe Veleno – Patrick Kane
Michael Rasmussen – Andrew Copp – David Perron Klim Kostin – Christian Fischer – Daniel Sprong
Jake Walman – Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot – Jeff Petry
Justin Holl – Shayne Gostisbehere
San Jose Sharks
William Eklund – Tomas Hertl – Alexander Barabanov
Fabian Zetterlund – Mikael Granlund – Anthony Duclair
Justin Bailey – Nico Sturm – Kevin Labanc
Jacob Macdonald – Filip Zadina – Mike Hoffman
Mario Ferraro – Kyle Burroughs
Calen Addison – Mark-Edouard Vlasic
Nikita Okhotyuk – Jan Rutta
By The Numbers:
League Ranking
Detroit Red Wings
PP%: 23.5 (10)
PK%: 78.0 (20)
GF P/G: 3.79 (3)
GA P/G: 2.96 (14)
Faceoff %: 49.0 (22)
San Jose Sharks
PP%: 18.6 (21)
PK%: 71.1 (31)
GF P/G: 2.00 (32)
GA P/G: 4.00 (32)
Faceoff %: 52.0 (8)
Red Wings Player to Watch: Patrick Kane
Kane is making his Red Wings debut tonight after playing in 73 games last year, recording 57 points on 21 goals and 36 assists between the Blackhawks and the Rangers.
Kane’s Line Assignments
Kane will play with Alex DeBrincat and Joe Veleno on the second line. Kane is also expected to slide in on the power play and play on the first line with DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin, David Perron, and Shayne Gostisbehere.
Kane’s career vs. San Jose
In his career against San Jose, he has played 47 games and recorded 38 points on 12 goals and 26 assists. Last season, he recorded a goal in two games against the Sharks.
Between The Pipes
Detroit: Ville Husso (8-4-1, 3.47 GAA)
Husso’s last start came on Saturday against Montreal, where he got the win in overtime stopping 30 of 26 shots. In his career against the Sharks, he has made six appearances; in those, he is 5-0-1 and has given up 15 goals on 154 shots. He faced the Sharks last season twice and went 2-0-0 allowing six goals on 55 shots.
San Jose: Mackenzie Blackwood (3-11-2, 3.72 GAA)
Blackwood’s last start came on Sunday against the Rangers, in which he allowed six goals on 36 shots and suffered the loss. Blackwood, in his career against the Red Wings, is 1-2-0 in three appearances, stopping 84 of the 92 shots he has faced.
Wrap Up:
The Detroit Red Wings need a six-point week; they got two on Tuesday and now draw the Sharks, who have been one of the worst teams in the league to this point; they need to take care of business against the teams they should beat, and this is one of them before a big test on Saturday against their new-found rivals the Ottawa Senators.
The Red Wings in their last ten games against San Jose are 6-2-2 and outscored them 34-28 over those games. The Red Wings last season went 2-0-0 against the Sharks last season with the Red Wings outscoring them 10-6.
ITR 39: Conference Finals – Inside The Rink
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