Update (9:49 PM): Tomas Kopecky has left the game due to a shoulder injury. He won’t return, which leaves the Wings short a forward. - Matt
Update (7:36 PM): If you’re trying to watch the game online, try the broadcast on Yahoo! If you’re in the blackout area, try watching it on NHL TV here. - Matt
Update (7:05 PM): As usual, there’ll be a liveblog of sorts going on over at Abel to Yzerman. - Matt
Update (6:22 PM): Red Wings TV has some game day comments from Mike Babcock here. - Matt
Update (6:03 PM): HockeyTownTodd has his preview of the game posted. Also, be sure to check out Baroque’s latest post over there. - Matt
Update (12:56 PM): Bruce MacLeod has the “probable lines” over at Red Wings Corner. Matt Ellis and Aaron Downey are both healthy scratches. - Matt
Tonight is the second of eight games between these two teams this season. The Blues won the first meeting, 4-3 in St. Louis on the 13th. The remaining six games in the series will be played in December (3) and March (3).
The Blues are 3-0-0 since beating the Wings a week ago. They first beat the Blue Jackets, 3-2 on the 16th and followed that up with a 3-2 shootout win in Nashville the next night. Two days later, they beat the Predators at home, 2-1. That win put them at 5-3-0 in November.
Brad Boyes leads the team with 12 goals, but Paul Kariya leads in points with 20. Barrett Jackman has one point through 18 games and is now minus-9.
Former Red Wing Manny Legace should be in net for the Blues tonight. Since the last time we saw him, Manny has improved to a 2.22 GAA (from 2.27) and a .918 save-percentage (from .914).
For the Blues perspective, check out Note Speak, St. Louis Game Time, The Hockey Chick, and The Checking Line.
The Wings have gone 1-2-0 since losing to the Blues last week. On Sunday in Columbus, they snapped a three-game losing streak in which they lost to the Blackhawks twice, once before the Blues game, and once after it. In a stretch of games in which they have exclusively played Central Division teams, the team is 3-3-0. They play in Nashville tomorrow night and will face Columbus on Saturday.
Henrik Zetterberg leads the team in goals, assists, and points with 14, 16, and 30, respectively. Pavel Datsyuk and Nick Lidstrom also have 16 assists.
It looks like Aaron Downey will sit again after a strong performance Sunday night. Expect Dallas Drake and Tomas Kopecky to fill out the fourth line with, it looks like, Jiri Hudler.
Chris Osgood will start tonight.
For more of the Detroit perspective, be sure to stop by Snapshots, Gorilla Crouch (though Dave is traveling), Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Gloveside, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, yzerman is god, and Winging It In Motown today.
The Wings just need to come out and play their game. If they run into penalty trouble, hopefully their having focused on that in practice yesterday will help. With a confident Chris Osgood in net, they should be in better shape than they were last time, when Hasek’s shaky play resulted in his getting yanked.