Finally teammates, Gemel, Givani Smith play on same line for Red Wings

Gemel Smith and Givani Smith finally got their chance to play together.

The brothers, who had never played on the same team, skated on the same line for the Detroit Red Wings against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Monday. Givani is in his third season with the Red Wings. Gemel was claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 19.

"It's a good experience. Obviously I'm excited and obviously it's a cool thing," Gemel Smith, a member of the Lightning for their back-to-back Stanley Cup titles, said before the game. "I just want to go out there and play."
The brothers took the ice for the first time together just about midway through the first period of the Red Wings' 7-4 loss.
When they did, the pair became the fourth set of brothers to play for the same team during the 2021-22 season, joining Caleb Jones and Seth Jones of the Chicago Blackhawks,
Darren Raddysh
and Taylor Raddysh of the Lightning and the Seattle Kraken's
Haydn
and
Cale Fleury
.

Gemel and Givani Smith are the first pair of brothers to play for the Red Wings since 1969, when Frank and Pete Mahovlich did the same.

"I think it's really cool," said Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill prior to the game. "You know, ultimately we're in the winning business and we're trying to put the best lineup out there and those types of things aren't reasons why we make decisions, but I'm also human. I have a brother and I never got to play with him and I think it would have been really cool to do that. I think it will be an awesome experience for those two."
NHL.com Independent Correspondent Jessi Pierce contributed to this report.