Detroit Red Wings Remove 2 Players Before Important Match Against the Tampa Bay Lightning

The Detroit Red wings are 36-35-7 and 6th in the Atlantic Division. They will be taking on their rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning in what should be a thrilling matchup of wills, as the Lightning are playoff bound, while the Red Wings need to earn every point in order to stay in the conversation.

With the Red Wings eight points out from the Montreal Canadiens, this game should have a playoff atmosphere for the team. While the Lightning could approach this with a business as usual attitude, which typically means a win either way.

In order to gain those two points, Head Coach Todd McLellan has had to optimize the lineup and has removed Jeff Petry and Elmer Soderblom from the lineup.

One of those is Jeff Petry who hasn't been great this season, taking needless penalties and not contributing much in the way off offense either. He's been out of the lineup for a significant amount of time, recently coming off of IR and has only played 42 games, and scored 7 points (1 goals, 6 assists).

I can't say we're heartbroken about that move.

While forward Elmer Soderblom will be out of the lineup tonight, and he has been battling injuries.

If the team doesn't make the playoffs, it's likely that the Detroit Red Wings could prioritize the forwards healthy and take him out of the lineup for good.

Soderblom has played 26 games for the Red Wings and scored 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists). There's been no timetable set for his return.