On the Wings

Update (3:50 PM): The Tennessean reports that Chris Mason, not Dan Ellis, will be in net tonight for Nashville. Mason has had a rough start to the season, with a 3-7-0 record, a 3.86 GAA, and a .879 save percentage. He’s coming off a strong 30-save performance in Chicago Sunday night, however, and will be looking to improve on his 2-2 career record versus the Wings. (via Snapshots). - Matt

Update (2:05 PM): Helene St. James says it’s official: Tomas Kopecky and Dallas Drake are healthy scratches tonight. She points out that Drake was never supposed to be an “every night” player in the first half of the season, while Kopecky’s lackluster play has earned him a wake-up call.

St. James also reports that Niklas Kronwall appears fully recovered from his groin injury. Assuming he doesn’t have a setback, he’ll be back Friday. - Matt

Update (10:40 AM): It looks like Jiri Hudler won’t be a healthy scratch tonight after all. According to Bruce MacLeod, he was with Aaron Downey and Matt Ellis on the fourth line in today’s morning skate. The lineup is not official yet, but it appears as though Dallas Drake will be a healthy scratch with Tomas Kopecky instead of Hudler. - Matt

Tonight is the first of eight games between these two teams this season. The Wings won the series last year, 6-2. They play three more times in 2007 and then wrap things up with games in February and March 2008.

Nashville kicked of the season with two wins, including a 4-0 shutout of the Avalanche, but then dropped six straight beginning with a 4-1 loss to St. Louis on October 10th. The skid ended with a 6-0 drubbing by the Kings on the 23rd. Since then, the Preds have posted a 5-1 record, with the first two wins coming against Eastern Conference opponents (Atlanta and Florida). They then returned to Western Conference play on the 30th and promptly lost 5-1 to Calgary on the road. They rebounded from that loss, however, with three successive wins, including their most recent, a 5-2 decision over Chicago on Sunday. That game was the first of eight in a row against Central Division opponents for Nashville.

Jason Arnott leads the team in goals and points with 6 and 13, respectively. Martin Erat leads in assists with 9.

Key Nashville injuries include Steve Sullivan (back), Shea Weber (patella), and Martin Gelinas (shoulder).

Nashville has a goalie rotation going between Chris Mason and rookie Dan Ellis. Ellis is 4-0 between the pipes this season, while Mason bears a 3-7 record. Mason was in net in Chicago, so it’s possible the Wings will see Ellis tonight.

The Wings are coming off a break of nearly a week after a three-game road swing to Western Canada, a trip they swept. Tonight is the first of nine games against Central Division opponents and may be one of the toughest stretches of the season given the competitiveness of the Division thus far.

Henrik Zetterberg still leads the team with 12 goals and 24 points. Even with so much time off, he remains the league leader in points. Pavel Datsyuk’s 14 assists put him at #1 in that category.

The Wings will be without Niklas Kronwall (groin) for the fourth straight game. Brett Lebda will continue to occupy his spot on the second pairing and Derek Meech will skate with Chris Chelios.

As reported by Bruce MacLeod yesterday, it’s possible that Jiri Hudler and Tomas Kopecky could be healthy scratches tonight. In that case, Aaron Downey and Matt Ellis would enter the lineup as part of the fourth line to give the team some added toughness.

Dominik Hasek (hip) is not quite ready to return, but he will back up Chris Osgood, the starter, tonight.

The Wings have a had a long break, but I don’t think they’ll have trouble coming out strong tonight. With the Preds on the rise and the Wings playing such great hockey, it should be a good game tonight. Let’s hope it stays clean.