Update (8:00 PM): Noticed a few minutes ago that Derek Meech is playing at the expense of Andreas Lilja. Bruce MacLeod reports that Lilja is a healthy scratch, so it looks like Babcock is sending a message to the big Swede. - Matt
Update (7:40 PM): Catch the game live (okay, delayed 30-40 seconds) on NHL TV here. Already, the lines are different than reported today, as Kris Draper started between Dallas Drake and Kirk Maltby. - Matt
Update (5:39 PM): More from MacLeod. This time it’s a quote form Mike Babcock on the practice before the Chicago game:
“Zetterberg calls it the joy factor. … There’s a lot of fun. Our guys are laughing and abusing each other and fooling around. The day before in practice, we went out and no one was bugging each other. They were paying attention and we weren’t executing. I know right away when they’re attentive that something’s going on. Usually, they’re goofing off, having fun. There was no energy. Just because the schedule says we should be all right, we’re not.”
I guess that sort of explains the Wings’ sloppiness Sunday. Sort of. Despite the fact that we don’t know why the players weren’t in their usual mood, it’s always good to hear details like that. We know so little about practice dynamics way out here behind the wall.
Anyway, the team did not skate yesterday, but went bowling instead. Let’s hope they got the right amount of goofing off and abuse in. They did skate today, however, though MacLeod doesn’t offer any observations on the mood among the players.
By the way, Jiri Hudler has the hot hand in bowling as well as hockey at the moment. He won with four strikes in a row and a score of 183. - Matt
Update (1:56 PM): Bruce MacLeod reports that Mikael Samuelsson has flown home to Detroit to be with his wife and their newborn daughter. As a result, Matt Ellis will enter the lineup as the center of the fourth line with Tomas Kopecky and Dallas Drake. Jiri Hudler will move up from the fourth line to skate on the second with Valtteri Filppula and Johan Franzen.
Ellis will make the fourth line tougher to play against, which is a good thing going into a rebound game. Hudler has earned a spot on the second line, so it’s good to see him get it.
Congratulations to the Samuelssons! - Matt
Tonight is the first of eight games between these two teams this season. The 2006-2007 series ended in a 4-4 tie. They play once more this month, three times in December, and three times in March.
The Blues have had a bit of a bipolar season. They lost their opener to Phoenix, but won their next four. Then, they hit a 3-3-0 stretch where they alternated losses and win. Their last win came November 1st in Minnesota and since then, they are 0-3, having lost to the Blackhawks twice and Columbus once in that span. The Blues’ 7-7-0 record is good for fifth in the Central Division, five points back of the 4th-place team, Nashville.
Brad Boyes leads the team with 9 goals, but free agent acquisition Paul Kariya leads in points with 16. Keith Tkachuk isn’t far behind, with 13. 2003 Calder Trophy winner Barrett Jackman has one point through 14 games and is minus-7.
Former Red Wing Manny Legace has posted a 6-5 record this season, with a 2.27 GAA and a .914 save percentage. He should be the starter tonight for the Blues.
For the Blues perspective, check out St. Louis Game Time, The Hockey Chick, and The Checking Line.
The Wings had won nine in a row going into Chicago Sunday night, but couldn’t win a tenth as the Blackhawks outplayed them just about the whole game. They are now 0-2-1 against the Hawks this season and have lost to just one other team, the Ducks. Tonight is the fourth in a nine-game stretch in which they play only Central Division teams.
2003 Calder Trophy runner-up Henrik Zetterberg is tied with Sidney Crosby for the league lead in points with 27. He leads the team in both goals (13) and is tied for the team lead in assists with Pavel Datsyuk (14).
There are no Red Wing injuries and it’s not likely there will be any lineup changes, as Tomas Kopecky and Dallas Drake have been playing well.
Dominik Hasek should get the start tonight after backing up Chris Osgood Sunday in Chicago. He is 5-2-1 with a 2.47 GAA and a .883 save-percentage.
For more of the Detroit perspective, be sure to stop by Snapshots, Gorilla Crouch, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Gloveside, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, yzerman is god, and Winging It In Motown today.
The Wings were as flat as I’ve seen them all season Sunday night and can’t expect to get away with that again tonight. The Blues are a well-coached team, as pointed out by HockeyTownTodd in the comments yesterday, and have plenty of talent, as well. Paul Kariya, in particular, will make the Wings pay if they don’t bring their “A” game. That said, with the exception of Chicago, the Wings have looked fairly good against the Central this year and hopefully that will continue tonight as they play the Blues for the first time.