The Red Wings face their former teammate and get off to a slow start

The Detroit Red Wings face one of the NHL’s rising superstars and a former teammate who’s off to a slow start tonight at the Chicago Blackhawks (8 p.m., TNT).

Connor Bedard, the top pick in the 2023 draft, has three goals and leads the team with 12 points. Tyler Bertuzzi, who will be playing with his third club against the Red Wings, had four goals and no assists.

Bedard had two assists in two games against the Red Wings last season. Bertuzzi has one goal and two assists in five games against Detroit while playing for Boston and Toronto.

Bertuzzi, 29, signed a four-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks in the offseason with an average annual value of $5.5 million. Since his breakout 2021-22 season in Detroit, when he scored 30 goals and 62 points in 68 games, Bertuzzi has scored 33 goals and 77 points in 143 games. He has scored two goals in the last three games.

The Blackhawks (5-7-1) have won three of their last four games. The Red Wings (5-5-1) are hoping to gain some momentum from Saturday’s 2-1 win over Buffalo, which coach Derek Lalonde called one of his team’s most complete games.

Here are the Red Wings’ expected lines and defensive pairings:

Alex DeBrincat-Dylan Larkin-Patrick Kane

Andrew Copp-JT Compher-Lucas Raymond

Jonatan Berggren-Marco Kasper-Vladimir Tarasenko

Michael Rasmussen-Joe Veleno-Christian Fischer

Simon Edvinsson-Moritz Seider

Ben Chiarot-Jeff Petry

Erik Gustafsson-Albert Johansson

Cam Talbot will start in goal.