Tonight is the fourth of eight games between these two Central Division teams this season. The Wings lead the series 3-0, with wins November 2nd (2-1), December 14th (3-2), and January 13th (6-3). They’ll face each other once more this month before a game in March and the remaining two games in April.
Since losing to the Wings last month, the Hawks have gone 5-6-4. Their last win came on February 11th in Columbus, and they have lost their last three, with two coming in shootouts, since then. They are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Rangers on the road Sunday and will wrap up a short two-game road trip tonight.
Martin Havlat has been hot lately, having scored 8 goals in his last 10 games, including the lone Chicago goal in their loss to the Rangers. It was his 23rd of the season.
I expect Nikolai Khabibulin to be in net tonight.
The Wings are 10-4-1 since January 14th and have won their last two. Their most recent loss came on February 12th, an embarrassing 6-1 rout by the Flyers which came the night after the Wings dominated the Flames, 7-4. Since the loss, they have beaten Dallas (3-1) and Phoenix (4-1). The game in Phoenix ended a three-game road trip and tonight’s game begins a two-game homestand in which they will host Edmonton Friday night. Saturday night is an important game in Nashville.
The Wings are one point behind Nashville for the Division lead following the Preds’ 4-1 win over the Coyotes on Monday. The Predators play again on Thursday and have a good chance to beat the struggling Habs. With a game against the Preds coming up on Saturday, the Wings have a great opportunity to pass them with wins tonight and Friday night.
Dominik Hasek should be in net tonight.
The Wings need to continue their dominance of the Hawks tonight for the reason stated above. They aren’t going to be able to pass Nashville for good this weekend, but it’s important that they keep pace with the Preds now or else catching them will be that much more difficult in the end.
Hey Matt and everyone…
I’ve been reading this blog for a long time now, and have really come to appreciate and rely on it. Thanks for all of your hard work.
I hate to do a plug, but a buddy and I have started a new blog for anyone who has feeling about Gary Bettman and how he has affected the NHL and hockey.
It is http://www.FireBettman.com
We’ve put a link up to your site and I’m sure we will try to reference your site as much as possible.
…which tells you right away how we feel about him
Thanks again for all of the great updates on here and game recaps… if I miss seeing a game, this is the first place I go!
thanks,
Matt
Thanks Matt, we really appreciate it.
I can’t say I buy into the whole anti-Bettman thing the same way I used to (though I do dislike him), since many of the owners (or enough to force through their agenda, anyway) seem to me to be just as responsible for the League’s troubles as he is. At least 2/3 of them must be happy with him, or else he’d be gone. Get rid of Bettman and the owners that back him up, I say. Not just Bettman, because he’s only a puppet tied to owners like Bill Wirtz and Peter Karmanos.
Anyway, I’ve added your link.