On the Wings

Tonight is the only meeting between these two Original Six teams this season.

The Habs have not had a great month of January thus far. After posting a 8-4-1 record in December, they’ve skidded a bit with a 3-4-0 record to start 2007. They ended a three-game losing streak on the 9th by beating the Thrashers and proceeded to win their next game, over the Flyers. Then, they lost in spectacular fashion to Ottawa on Saturday, a 8-3 drubbing in the first game of the Hockey Day in Canada tripleheader. Canadiens captain Saku Koivu called it a “punch in the face.”

Despite their recent trouble, the Habs are still a dangerous team. They have the league’s second best power play at 23.2% and their fourth best (86.6%) penalty kill make it difficult for teams to be productive with the man-advantage.

The Wings have had only a slightly better month of January following a strong December (11-3-1). They’ve posted a 4-3-0 record, with a three-game losing streak countered by their current three-game winning streak. Since losing to the Ducks last Sunday, they’ve rebounded with wins over Colorado, Phoenix and, most recently, Chicago. They are in the middle of a three-game homestand and will host the Predators on Wednesday before leaving on a road trip.

Dominik Hasek will be in net tonight for the Wings after sitting out their 6-3 win over Chicago.

Mathieu Schneider (knee sprain) will not be in the lineup, despite positive reports last week about him coming back soon after the road trip. Apparently, he’s not confident he’ll be back before the All-Star Break next week.

Both Nick Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk did not practice yesterday, but they’re expected to dress, according to the Freep. Lidstrom was still sore from taking a shoot-in off an unprotected part of his knee in Phoenix, and Datsyuk was feeling the effects of a hard hit that briefly took him out of the Chicago game in the first period.

Although I didn’t see the Hawks game, I’ve heard that the Wings came out flat and sort of took their time getting going. Well, that worked against a struggling Chicago team, but it won’t work against the Habs, even if they’re been having trouble lately. The Wings will need to perform like they did in Colorado or Phoenix if they want to be able to beat one of the East’s top teams.