What time and TV channel is today’s Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks game on?i
The veteran John Gibson, who was nominated for the Vezina Trophy as recently as 2019, started Sunday in New Jersey but was pulled after two periods, barely giving up his only goal on 19 shots faced. The Ducks later said Gibson was “under the weather,” and Lukáš Dostál stopped all 10 shots he faced. At least 29-year-old Frank Vatrano is having a career year; even though the team has gone seven games without a goal, Vatrano leads with 14 goals and is on pace for 38 goals, well over his 22 from the previous campaign.
Of course, the Wings are also suffering greatly from injuries. Captain Dylan Larkin is eligible to return from the injured reserve list today. However, head coach Derek Lalonde suggested that would be “aggressive,” especially since keeping Larkin out for the remainder of the week would give him the holiday break to heal up as well. Larkin was hurt in a nasty-looking 2-on-1 hit against Ottawa last week, which resulted in, yep, “an upper-body injury.”
The Wings need to find some offense, though, because they have lost to Carolina and Philadelphia in their last 120 minutes on the ice despite having the fourth-best offense in the league coming into Sunday (3.57 goals per game). After scoring nine goals in his first seven games as a Wing, forward Alex DeBrincat has only scored four goals in his subsequent games and just one in his last 11 (a goal in Montreal on December 2). He continues to lead the Wings in both points and goals (26).
Before the holiday break, Detroit has three more games in what should be a busy week (but isn’t it always this time of year?). On Wednesday, the Wings travel to Manitoba to play the Winnipeg Jets; on Friday, they return home to host the Philadelphia Flyers, whom they lost to 1-0 on Saturday; and on Saturday night, they travel to New Jersey to take on the Devils. Before the break, the Ducks will play eight games at home in Southern California, starting on Thursday with the Calgary Flames and ending on Saturday with the Seattle Kraken. The team will conclude a four-game Eastern swing in Detroit.
