Red Wings slot in Brendan Smith for Game 3, scratch Marchenko
Rick Osentoski / USA TODAY Sports
The Detroit Red Wings already made one lineup change for Game 3 of their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning with forward Justin Abdelkader returning.
Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock has also decided to slot in defenseman Brendan Smith in place of Alexey Marchenko, reports Ansar Khan of MLive.
Babcock made the switch to take advantage of Smith's skating and competitiveness, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports.
The 26-year-old Smith also has more playoff experience than the younger Marchenko, having played in 19 playoff games to his counterpart's two.