GAMEDAY PREVIEW Game 8: Detroit Red Wings vs. Winnipeg Jets & Projected Line Combos

The Detroit Red Wings are wrapping up their homestand coming off a rough loss on Tuesday night to the Seattle Kraken 5-4 in overtime; it was a game they should have won, but a penalty by Dylan Larkin gave the Kraken a power-play with under two minutes left, and they scored to tie it and force the extra frame and in the overtime, Lucas Raymond rang the post then the Kraken scored to secure the win. The Winnipeg Jets are coming in off a win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night 4-2.

Detroit Red Wings (5-1-1, 11 Points) vs. Winnipeg Jets (3-3-0, 6 Points)

When: Thursday, October 26
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesar’s Arena (Detroit, MI)
TV: Bally Sports Detroit

Expected Line Combinations

Detroit Red Wings

Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond
Michael Rasmussen – J.T. Compher – Andrew Copp
David Perron – Joe Veleno – Daniel Sprong
Jonatan Berggren/Klim Kostin – Austin Czarnik – Christian Fischer
Jake Walman – Moritz Seider
Shayne Gostisbehere – Justin Holl
Ben Chiarot – Olli Maatta

Winnipeg Jets

Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Alex Iafallo
Cole Perfetti – Vladislav Namestnikov– Nikolaj Ehlers
Nino Niederreiter– Adam Lowry – Mason Appleton
Morgan Barron – Rasmus Kupari – David Gustafsson
Josh Morrissey – Dylan Demelo
Brendan Dillon – Neal Pionk
Dylan Samberg – Nate Schmidt

By The Numbers:

Red Wings Player to Watch: Andrew Copp

Copp started his career with Winnipeg, playing eight seasons with the Jets; he appeared in 467 games, recording 184 points on 74 goals and 110 assists. Copp, this season, has four points coming off three goals and an assist; he is also a minus one and has one power-play goal. Copp needs to get the second line going, as they will be relied upon to get some secondary scoring against the Jets.

Andrew Copp’s Line Assignments

Copp plays right wing alongside J.T. Compher and Michael Rasmussen on the second line. Copp also plays on the wing on the second power-play unit with Compher, Lucas Raymond, Daniel Sprong, and Jake Walman.

Copp’s career vs. Winnipeg

In his career against Winnipeg, he has played in three games and recorded four points on four assists. Last season, in two games against the Jets, Copp recorded two points, both coming on assists.

Between the Pipes:

Detroit: James Reimer (2-0-0, 1.00 GAA)

Reimer this season has looked solid, playing in two games and winning both with a .963 save percentage. Last season against Winnipeg, Reimer made three starts, going 2-1-0, giving up eight goals; in his career against the Jets, he has played in 20 games, going 7-9-1, giving up 57 goals against 611 shots.

Winnipeg: Connor Hellebuyck (3-2-0, 3.38 GAA)

Hellebuyck has struggled out the gate but has started five of the Jets’ first six games and has a save percentage of .881. Last season against the Red Wings, he made two starts, going 1-1-0, giving up eight goals on 47 shots. In his career against Detroit, he has made 11 starts, going 5-1-1, and allowed 30 goals on 311 shots.

Wrap Up

The Red Wings come into tonight’s matchup on a six-game point streak and will look to keep that going against the Jets before their big matchup against the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins on Saturday night.

In their last ten games against the Jets, the Red Wings are 4-6-0 and have been outscored 33-29. Last season against the Jets, the Red Wings split their matchups, and they were outscored 11-9.