Preview: Zadina returns as Red Wings host Pens

It's safe to say that the bitter feelings felt by fans of the Detroit Red Wings towards Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby and his teammates remain prevalent in their minds. After all, the player once known as "Sid the Kid" is routinely booed by those proudly donning the Winged Wheel at every possible chance, despite the two teams' last Finals matchup being over 10 years ago now. 

Tonight, they'll have a chance to once again let their feelings be heard. The Penguins are in town for a matchup against the struggling Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena tonight (7:30 PM, Fox Sports Detroit). And when I say struggling, that's a severe understatement. 

The Red Wings have dropped 10 in a row (yes, ten straight games), their longest such streak of futility since 2018, and they're currently on pace for their worst record in a full season since 1985-86, Steve Yzerman's third season of play in the NHL. 

For tonight's game, they could be joined by underachieving forward Justin Abdelkader, who has been out since November 10 while tending to a hand injury. As far as their line combinations are concerned, Filip Zadina will return to the lineup after being briefly sent down to the Griffins during the team's long break; he'll start on a line tonight alongside Frans Nielsen and Darren Helm. 

The team also tweaked their second power play unit during practice this week. One unit saw Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and Andreas Athanasiou skate on a line together along with a blue line combination of Filip Hronek and Dennis Cholowski; another united featured Nielsen along with Brendan Perlini and Robby Fabbri as well as Valtteri Filppula; Mike Green was the lone defenseman. 

Goaltender Jonathan Bernier is expected to start tonight, with newly acquired Eric Comrie serving as backup. 

The Red Wings will hope to take advantage of the fact that the Penguins played last night and had to travel to Detroit immediately following their 2-0 shutout win at PPG Paints Arena over the Arizona Coyotes. Should they end up on the wrong side of the score tonight, the team's losing streak will be at an unsightly 11 games.