On the Wings

Update (6:06 PM): Two new clips on Red Wings TV. The first consists of Lidstrom, Draper, and Babcock talking about Filppula and Kopecky. Kopecky himself also makes an appearance. The second is pre-game commentary from Draper and Babcock.

George Malik breaks down the first clip, as well this one on Lidstrom’s contract, here. - Matt

Update (6:00 PM): Just heard back from George Sipple. The bit about Maltby in his blog post today was an error, either on his part or that of an editor. - Matt

Update (4:42 PM): According to Ansar Khan, Kirk Maltby, Henrik Zetterberg, and Tomas Holmstrom did not fly to St. Louis and will not join the team for the remainder of the road trip.

Maltby isn’t scheduled back until “early 2008,” though he is hoping to get back on the ice this week. He won’t practice with the team until next week at the earliest.

A specialist told Zetterberg his  injury is not serious, but he won’t hit the ice again until Monday. It doesn’t sound likely that he’ll play before next Wednesday’s Dallas game.

Tomas Holmstrom’s knee bruise is evidently a bigger deal than they thought, as he isn’t expected back for at least another two weeks.

Without those three, the next stretch of games will be a good test for the Wings’ depth. After tonight’s game against a tough St. Louis squad, as they’ll face a Colorado team that’s on a 5-0-1 tear and the resurgent Phoenix Coyotes, who are 4-0-1 in their last five. After that, it’s St. Louis again and a home-and-home with Dallas. The Stars are 6-1-0 in their last seven, though they have three tough games ahead of them before they visit Detroit on January 2nd. - Matt

Update (3:14 PM): Ted Kulfan reports that Chris Osgood will start tonight after all. Dominik Hasek will get the nod tomorrow in Denver. - Matt

Update (2:57 PM): Added missing link to the George Sipple blog post below.

I should have read it closer before: Sipple says Kirk Maltby is out with a knee injury. I’m going to assume that’s a mistake on his part because the story has been “lower back” almost since Day 1 (the first reports had it as a “strained shoulder”). - Matt

Tonight is the fourth of eight games between these two Central Division rivals this season. The Blues lead the series 2-1, with wins November 13th (4-3) and December 20th (3-2).  The Wings won the November 21st meeting, 3-0. The teams will face off once more this month (the 31st) before wrapping things up with three games in March (5th, 25th, 28th).

The Blues are 1-0-1 since beating the Wings last week. They played two games in two nights beginning with Boston on the road and finishing with Atlanta at home on the 23rd. They beat the Bruins 4-1 in a game that was evidently closer than the score indicates. The Blues media hyped the game as evidence that the team can shut down two types of opponents: the highly-skilled and the physical, grinding type. The next night, however, they couldn’t hold down Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa as they blew a third period lead en route to losing 3-2 just 19 seconds into overtime. It was something of a humbling experience for the Blues, but they remained positive going into the Christmas break despite losing to the East’s 9th-place team.

Barret Jackman scored the Blues’ first goal Sunday, but is already behind pace to best his career high of four goals in a season. Brad Boyes scored his team-leading 21st goal in Boston and Keith Tkachuk got one closer to 10 goals for the season with his 9th the next night.

The Blues have no injuries listed.

Manny Legace should be in net for the Blues again.

For the Blues’ perspective, see Note Speak, St. Louis Game Time, The Hockey Chick, and The Checking Line.

The Wings won their only game since losing to the Blues, a 4-1 decision over the Minnesota Wild.  Unlike the Blues’ win over Boston, the score in the Wings’ win in Minnesota indicates a closer game than it was. The Wild were out-shot 51-19 and were only in the game at all because of their young goaltender, Niklas Backstrom. Playing without Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg, the Wings’ secondary scorers stepped it up, with Johan Franzen, Dan Cleary, and Tomas Kopecky all adding a goal to Pavel Datsyuk’s first period tally. While not the Wings’ best performance of the season, it was a good rebound from their loss to the Blues two nights earlier.

There are four 10-or-more goal scorers on the team: Henrik Zetterberg (25), Tomas Holmstrom (17), Pavel Datsyuk (14), and Dan Cleary (12). Valtteri Filppula (9) and Jiri Hudler (8) aren’t far behind and tonight is as good a time as any for one of them to crack the 10-goal barrier.

George Sipple reports that neither Henrik Zetterberg (back spasms) nor Tomas Holmstrom (knee bruise) will return to the lineup tonight. I’m okay with that.  Given the fact that they both came out of the last Blues game hurt, it’s smart of the Wings to keep them out of this one, even if they are well enough to play. Mark Hartigan has been recalled from Grand Rapids and will fill in tonight with Aaron Downey. Kirk Maltby (back) remains out.

According to the Wings’ goalie rotation policy, Chris Osgood would be the starter tonight. However, because it is the first game of a back-to-back, expect to see Dominik Hasek in net. If you’re wondering why, remember that the team prefers Dom undergo a full pre-game regimen in order to ensure he stay healthy and that’s just not possible the second day of a back-to-back, when the morning skate is optional. Osgood should be the starter tomorrow in Colorado.

For more of the Wings’ perspective, see Snapshots, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, Red Wings Nation, yzerman is god, Detroit Hockey, LetsGoWings, and Winging It In Motown. HockeyTownTodd himsef has a look at the game here.

The last time these teams met, the Wings were tired and facing a highly-motivated Blues squad. This time, they’re rested, but missing two key offensive key players. It’s going to be interesting to see if the Wings can stand up to the Blues’ physicality and establish offensive dominance. They were able to dominant against a less physical Minnesota team on Saturday, so they should be able to do it against the Blues with fresh legs.