On the Wings

Update (4:55 PM): According to Ansar Khan, Jason Williams is not happy with being slapped on the wrist Sunday: Babcock’s pet whined to the media today, and Khan has the quotes if you want to read them. Apparently, Babcock has kept Williams out of the loop on the fact that he’s supposed to be playing tonight, since the media knew before he did.

Also, it looks like there may be a scratch or two tonight since a couple of the guys have been fighting the flu. Babcock hasn’t yet decided whether or not they’ll sit, however. - Matt

Update (3:15 PM): Helene St. James confirms that Dominik Hasek will start tonight and that Jason Williams will return. - Matt

Tonight is the first of four meetings between these old rivals this season. The Wings won the 2005-2007 series 4-0, with wins November 23, 2005 (7-3), January 21, 2006 (4-3), February 4, 2006 (3-0), and February 12, 2006 (6-3). The teams will meet twice more in January (the 20th and 28th) before finishing up the season series on March 4 in Detroit.

The Avs are riding a three-game winning streak, with wins over Nashville, Tampa Bay, and Minnesota. The run matches a season high and comes after a three-game skid to end the month of December. In that stretch, they lost once to Dallas before dropping back-to-back games to St. Louis. Colorado is 11-9-1 at home so far this season.

Over the previous five games, the starting goaltender for the Avs has been second-year-player Peter Budaj, whose 2.41 GAA and 12-8-0 record are better than Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Jose Theodore’s numbers. Theodore is 9-10-1 this season, with a 3.10 GAA.

The Avs will be without defenseman John-Michael Liles tonight. Liles broke his foot in the team’s win over Minnesota on Saturday and will miss four weeks. It’s definitely a blow to the Colorado defense, as head coach Joel Quenneville told Terry Frei of the Denver Post:

“Johnny was playing well for us. He brings a lot to the table, and not just on the power play, but coming up on the attack. He’s a threat on the point offensively and was logging a lot of important minutes.”

Other current Avs injuries: Brett McLean (back), Patrice Briesebois (back), Jordon Leopold (groin), Brad May (shoulder).
Frei today focuses on the fact that tonight will be the first time in the history of the Wings/Avs rivalry that Steve Yzerman will not be in the lineup or wearing the C opposite Joe Sakic.

In contrast to the Avs, the Wings are riding a three-game losing streak that began last Thursday in San Jose. They then lost in LA and Anaheim, leaving them pointless thus far in their five-game road trip. This skid follows a four-game winning streak in which they beat two of the teams they’ve lost to lately (the Kings and Ducks). They’ll finish up the road trip on Thursday, in Phoenix.

Dominik Hasek started Sunday in Anaheim, the night after Chris Osgood got the nod in LA. Given Babcock’s seeming interest to play Hasek as often as possible rather than utilizing his capable backup, I expect to see Dom in net rather than Ozzie.

The Wings will be without defenseman Mathieu Schneider, who sprained his MCL Sunday night. He won’t be back until after the trip is over.

Chris Chelios will return to the lineup tonight after missing six games due to having to deal with a double homicide at his downtown restaurant.

Jason Williams should be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Sunday. I made the mistake of uncritically regurgitating something Ansar Khan wrote last night, saying Jason’s return to the lineup would mean Jiri Hudler would have to sit. That’s not true. The only way Hudler will sit is if he’s in the doghouse (which may be what Khan meant - he’s just not very clear there).

Josh Langfeld was returned to the Griffins today. With Pavel Datsyuk healthy and Williams likely out of the doghouse, Langfeld had no spot in the lineup, so rather than keep him around, they sent him back to Grand Rapids, where he’ll get the playing time he’s accustomed to. The Wings now have twelve forwards and six defensemen and no injury insurance in the form of a called-up player.

With the Avs riding a three-game streak in which they’ve beaten tough opponents, the Wings will have a hard time reversing their fortunes tonight if they don’t come out strong. If they can play like they did for much of the Ducks game and not have bounces go Colorado’s way, they stand a good chance. In spite of the fact that the rivalry has cooled almost to death, these games are more emotional than most. It’ll be a good time for the Wings to get those three consecutive losses out of their mind and play some good hockey.

The game is on Versus tonight, not Fox Sports, so be aware of that when you’re trying to find it.