On the Wings

Update (4:25 PM): Ted Kulfan reports that Peter Forsberg will not be in the lineup for the Predators tonight.

He also provides some idea of what the lines will look like:

“…  Mike Babcock said he’d put Johan Franzen on Holmstrom’s spot on the line with Valterri Filppula and Pavel Datsyuk. Babcock also said Jiri Hudler would be in Franzen’s regular spot with Robert Lang and Kyle Calder.”

I would guess this means the third and fourth lines will be something like Maltby-Draper-Langfeld and Bootland-Ellis-Hussey. - Matt

Update (2:15 PM): Bruce MacLeod of the Macomb Daily newspaper points out something I’d missed:

Darryl Bootland was recalled from Grand Rapids to give the Red Wings 12 healthy forwards. …

… Teams are limited to four callups between now and the playoffs, but the Red Wings are exempt from that in this case, listing Bootland as an emergency callup — a rule that can be used if you have fewer than 12 healthy forwards or six healthy defensemen.

A good rule to have, especially since the Wings’ overall team health is as bad as it’s been since December of the 03-04 season, when they were without 10 players at the peak of their injury troubles. (For a list, see this post, and add Dominik Hasek, who reinjured his groin on December 8th in a game against the Kings.) (via Snapshots) - Matt

Tonight is the fifth of eight games between these two teams this season. The series is tied 2-2, with the Wings winning November 10th (3-0) and January 17th (5-3), and the Preds winning November 25th (6-2) and February 24th (4-3 OT). They play each other three more times before the month’s end, including a back-to-back home-and-home series March 13th and 14th. The finale will be on March 29th in Detroit.

Since their February 24th triumph over the Wings, Nashville has posted a 3-0-1 record, with wins coming over Columbus, San Jose, and LA. They are coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to Anaheim on Sunday, a game which was the fourth in a five-game stop road trip that will end tonight in Detroit. Nashville was without five of their better players, however, including Peter Forsberg (upper body), Steve Sullivan (back spasms), Jason Arnott (flu), Scott Hartnell (broken foot), and David Legwand (upper body). Given that, the Tennessean is making the loss out to be a moral victory.

Since breaking out of a ten-game goal-scoring slump on the 24th in Detroit, Paul Kariya has put up four points in as many games, two of which came against LA after being shutout by San Jose. So he hasn’t exactly been lighting it up, which was my fear after he skated circles around the Wings last month.

Peter Forsberg has not scored a goal since his game-winner in Detroit, but has notched four assists, including three in LA on Saturday.

The Preds currently lead the Conference with 93 points. If the playoffs were to start tomorrow, their first round opponent would be Minnesota.

Nashville has been rotating their goalies, which means Chris Mason should be in line to start, as Tomas Vokoun was in net Sunday.

According to the Tennessean, Arnott and Legwand are “probable” for tonight, while Forsberg is listed as doubtful, and Sullivan and Hartnell are definitely out.

The Wings have gone 2-0-1 since February 24th, with two wins over Chicago coming before an overtime loss to Colorado, one of their most luckluster of the season, on Sunday.

The loss in overtime, coupled with the Preds’ loss in a shootout, kept the Wings two points back of Nashville for the Division and Conference lead. The Wings have a game in hand, but all a win tonight will do is tie the two teams in points, not give them the lead, as Nashville will have more wins regardless.

Chris Osgood will get his third straight start.

The Wings’ injury list gets longer all the time, with Tomas Holmstrom (upper body) yesterday joining Henrik Zetterberg (inflamed disc), Dan Cleary (knee sprain), Mikael Samuelsson (broken foot), Dominik Hasek (thigh), and Todd Bertuzzi (back). Darryl Bootland, Matt Hussey, Matt Ellis, Josh Langfeld, and Jimmy Howard are filling in for Homer, Hank, Cleary, Sammy, and Dom, respectively. Hasek and Samuelsson may be back with in a week, however, according to the Free Press, while Holmstrom will miss 2-3 games. The others aren’t due back until mid-March.

Tonight is obviously an important game for the Wings, who need the win if they want to keep pace with Nashville in the race for the Division title. They need to get back on their feet after their embarrassingly slow start Sunday against the Avs, and put up a good show against their new rivals.