Red Wings make key changes to line combinations

The Detroit Red Wings will be back in action tonight and looking to rebound from Monday night's 4-2 loss at home to the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. Despite having outshot their opponent by a near 2 to 1 margin, the Leafs were able to capitalize on the opportunities that they got, while Detroit missed several of theirs that included a handful of power play opportunities. 

Meanwhile, goaltender Ville Husso had a rare subpar performance in net, and was pulled for the first time all season. Detroit has already indicated that they'll be giving Alex Nedeljkovic his first start in nearly two and a half weeks this evening when they host the Buffalo Sabres. Naturally, Detroit and Nedeljkovic will be looking to avenge their October 31 loss in Buffalo, during which they surrendered four third period tallies as part of an 8-3 setback. 

That's not the only change that will be on the ice tonight. Head coach Derek Lalonde has tinkered with the line combinations, moving center Andrew Copp to the third line flanked by Adam Erne and Oskar Sundqvist, while Dominik Kubalik was elevated to the 1st line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. Tonight's second line will consist of Michael Rasmussen along with David Perron and and Tyler Bertuzzi.

And according to Lalonde, it's simply a case of wanting to get a look of something different. 

"(We) trust both of them, basically just flipped them, different wingers and different look, maybe change some things around," Lalonde said. "Just looking for something different, a little spark. There's not a whole lot of difference between the four lines, the numbers will say that."

Tonight's game will begin at 7:00 PM EST, and will be aired nationally on TNT.