Johan Franzen will center the third line tonight with Kris Draper on his left wing. Normally, the roles would be reversed, but the Red Wings are testing Franzen against Bobby Holik to see how he fares against a big centerman.
"We already know Drapes can play in the middle," said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. "There's no concern with that. Franzen's a great big guy. I feel that this is a good opportunity to see … He played real well at center when we had injuries. And then after seeing that, I thought maybe he could be a good matchup center for us with his size. Tonight, he'll have the opportunity to go against a huge guy (Bobby Holik).
"It gives us something right there that we can test to see how we match up in that area. When you go through the west, they've got some big, big centermen that can wear on your smaller guys. Holik gives us that opportunity to test that theory."