Gostisbehere Scratched for Game Against Montreal

Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere pays a price for his subpar play against the New York Rangers by taking a seat in the press box for tonight’s home game against the Montreal Canadiens.

“For him, maybe a little reset,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “Not a strong game for him the other day, but at the same time if you take his body of work for the year he’s been excellent for us. A little slip in his game, the luxury of having seven quality D that we’re all comfortable with. A little breather, time to watch one, we expect him back in on Saturday.”

Gostisbehere had a -2 plus-minus against the Rangers, and is -6 in his past five games. He’s the fourth different veteran defenseman to be a healthy scratch over the first 13 games. Moritz Seider, Jake Walman and Ben Chiarot are the three defensemen who have avoided being scratched.

It wasn’t just one part of Gostisbehere’s game. “He drives the power play when it was going well,” Lalonde said. “A little but on the defensive end, too.”

Fabbri Also Out

Jeff Petry has been scratched more than once, but he’s been dealing with an injury as well.

“Jeff had an upper body, I took him out for most of his scratches, but we communicated the best we could,” Lalonde said. “We basically went through a 3-4 D rotation, so it was basically his turn. It was a pretty easy conversation. He’s a pro. Where Jeff is in his career, I think he probably took it as a positive, give his body a night off. He was excellent.”

Meanwhile, Robby Fabbri is out, as Lalonde hinted Wednesday after practice. Austin Czarnik will take his place on the second line.

“He plays fast, he’s a smart player,” Lalonde said. “Reliable. He can play on the wing. We’ve killed him at times. We could use him on the power play. He’s very valuable player for us. We like him, obviously, how we’ve used him of late. Very reliable player.”