We’re getting close to game time between the Red Wings and the Blackhawks. While line combinations, starting goalies and healthy scratches are wildly subject to change, these are the best guesses from a variety of sources.
Here’s a few notes to consider first, though. Cristobal Huet is expected to start the game and while Adam Burish looks like he’s just about ready to return from injury, he’s not expected to be in the lineup today. Jimmy Howard is said to be the starter for Detroit. As we’ve noted before, Andreas Lilja is working his way back from a severe injury while “Captain” Kirk Maltby is out for the year.
(Mean-spirited side note: Todd Bertuzzi isn’t skating so lethargically due to an injury. He just may not care.)
Jump for possible line combinations.
Ansar Khan was nice enough to provide a projected starting lineup for Detroit. (Note: in case you’re wondering, the first four lines are offense, the next three are defense, then we have scratches aka players who are inactive and then finally the goalies.) Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Cleary-Zetterberg-Williams
Miller-Filppula-Bertuzzi
Draper-Helm-Eaves
Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Stuart
Lebda-Lilja
Meech-Ericsson (scratches)
Howard (starting)
Osgood
Fantasy Hockey 911 has what seems to be reasonably accurate line combinations for the Blackhawks.
Patrick Sharp - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Kane
Troy Brouwer - Dave Bolland - Marian Hossa
Andrew Ladd - John Madden - Kris Versteeg
Tomas Kopecky - Ben Eager - Dustin Byfuglien
Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Brian Campbell - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Jordan Hendry - Kim Johnsson
Cristobal Huet
Antti Niemi