On the Wings

Tonight is the second of eight meetings between these to Central Division “rivals” this season. The Wings won the first meeting 3-2 on October 28th in St. Louis.

Since losing to the Detroit, the Blues have gone a pitiful 3-7-1. Their three wins came against the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers at home earlier this month, and the Columbus Blue Jackets on the road Wednesday night. The win over the jackets ended a three-game losing streak that started with a loss to the Flames to kick off a five-game road trip that will end tonight in Detroit. Their road record is second-worst in the league at 2-7-1.

Manny Legace should be in net for the Blues tonight. It will be just the second time in his career he has played against the Wings, after six seasons with them.

The Wings have fared better since they last saw the Blues, posting a 6-1-2 record. They are on a three-game losing streak, however, with one regulation loss (Calgary), a shootout loss (Edmonton, 3-4 SO), and an overtime loss (Vancouver, 3-4 OT) sending them on a slide for the first time since mid-October when they also dropped three in a row. The most recent game, Wednesday’s loss to Vancouver, came after they blew a 3-1 lead in the third period, eventually giving up a breakaway goal on a line-change in overtime.

The team has been having some injury troubles and matters were not helped Wednesday night when Johan Franzen went down with a concussion and a possible knee injury after a late hit by Canucks defenseman Willie Mitchell. Franzen is expected to be out for at least a week. The Wings apparently have no plans to bring anyone up since they already have enough healthy guys.

Niklas Kronwall skated yesterday but we won’t know if he’ll be playing until after the morning skate.

Dominik Hasek will start tonight, meaning either Joey MacDonald will start against the Central Division-leading Predators or the Wings will start Hasek two nights in a row, therefore going against all their rhetoric about not overplaying him early in the season. I don’t see why Babcock wouldn’t just start MacDonald tonight instead of wasting Dom on one of the worst teams in the league. The idea of a tired Hasek, or an inexperienced MacDonald, for that matter, starting against the speedy Preds is a little scary.

It may not matter quite as much since the Preds’ excellent starter, Tomas Vokoun, may not play tomorrow night due to injury.

Tonight’s a good night to end the losing streak, that’s for sure. Having periodic games against teams like the Blues is one of the benefits of the NHL’s new scheduling format because the team gets a break between games against stronger opponents and has the possibility of a confidence-building win. Hopefully, they’ll take advantage of it, with tomorrow night’s game being against a much tougher Nashville team.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to watch the game so there will be no first-hand reaction from me.