On the Wings

Update (4:50 PM): Christy Hammond has posted her preview of the game at Winging It In Motown. - Matt

Update (4:48 PM): An update from Ansar Khan:

Chris Osgood starts tonight.

Brian Rafalski (groin) is out at least until Friday.

Niklas Kronwall (clavicle) it out, perhaps until the end of the three-game Western Canada trip. - Matt

Update (4:46 PM): Some game day reading for you:

• HockeyTownTodd has some pre-game comments.
• Dave Wyshynski diagnoses the Wings over at the Fanhouse.
• IwoCPO notices a little credibility problem with a Detroit News writer. Also, be sure to read his post on “transplants” if you haven’t already.
• Shane Giroux looks at the Avs’ loss to Chicago yesterday, as does David Driscoll-Carignan.
• Jibblescribbits describes some coaching trouble in Avsland.
• Joe of Mile High Hockey previews tonight’s matchup.

- Matt

Update (9:20 AM): Via NHL Media: Mike Hasenfratz (30) and Mike Leggo (3) will officiate the game. Tim Nowak (77) and Tony Sericolo (84) will man the lines. - Matt

Update (9:18 AM): OklahomaWingNut’s GDT is here. - Matt

Tonight is the fourth and final meeting this season between the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado. Detroit leads the series 3-0, with wins December 27th (4-2), January 8th (1-0), and February 1st (2-0).

Colorado is 3-3-1 since we saw them last. On the 2nd, they pulled off a 6-4 road win over St. Louis. Two nights later, the Coyotes beat them in Denver, 4-3 in overtime. On the 6th, the Avs defeated the Sharks at the Tank 3-1 and three nights later, they took it to the Canucks in Vancouver, 6-2.

Since then, they’ve dropped three straight. The skid began at home with a 2-1 loss to Anaheim on the 12th, continued with a 4-1 defeat by St. Louis on Thursday, and left off with a 2-1 loss in Chicago yesterday.

The Avs are third in the Northwest Division with 65 points. They are currently 9th in the Conference, but are just one point behind Calgary for the 8th seed.

Marek Svatos is the top Colorado goal-scorer with 25. Milan Hejduk (20), Wojtek Wolski (14), Andrew Brunette (11), and Ryan Smyth (11) are the only active Avalanche to have double-digit goal totals. Brunette is goalless in his last eight and Wolski is goalless in his last nine. Milan Hejduk has not scored in three and Svatos hasn’t in two.

Colorado will likely be without Paul Stastny (groin), who is close to returning, but apparently not quite ready.  Joe Sakic (hernia surgery) and and Cody McCormick (chest contusion) are out.

It seems Jose Theodore is the likely starter tonight.

For the Avs’ side of things, see Colorado Avalanche Talk,  In the Cheap Seats,  Jibblescribbits,  and Mile High Hockey.

The Wings are 3-5-1 in February, with their losses coming all in a row starting February 7th against the Kings. They’ve since lost to Toronto (3-2 OT), Anaheim  (3-2), Nashville (4-2), Columbus (5-1) and Dallas (1-0).

The loss to the Stars came yesterday and was particularly disappointing because of the stretches in which they played well enough to win. They were, however, unable to get past Marty Turco, who put on a stellar performance and got the help of the post a couple times when he couldn’t make the save himself. It was probably the Wings’ best game over the skid, but wasn’t good enough.

The loss cut the Wings’ lead over the Conference and League to eight points, as Dallas continued its bid to overtake them.

Henrik Zetterberg leads the team in goals with 33, but he is goalless in five. That his drought roughly corresponds with the Wings’ nose dive is no coincidence.

The Wings will be without Niklas Kronwall (clavicle) for the 10th straight game. Derek Meech will fill in once more.

It looks like Brian Rafalski (groin) will not play for the third game in a row. In that case, Kyle Quincey will dress.

Dan Cleary (broken jaw) will be out for the fourth straight game. Aaron Downey filled in yesterday, but I’m guessing Babock may go for a slightly mixed-up lineup today and dress Matt Ellis instead.

Projected lines:

Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Filppula-Zetterberg-Samuelsson
Kopecky-Draper-Maltby
Hudler-Ellis-Drake

Projected pairings:

Lidstrom-Chelios
Lebda-Lilja
Quincey-Meech

My guess is Chris Osgood will return to the net tonight, but Jimmy Howard’s performance yesterday may have earned him another start.

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.

Todd won’t be posting his pre-game numbers any more, but you can still find OklahomaWingNut’s GDT’s at Kukla’s Forums.  He hasn’t posted today’s yet, though.

Tonight’s going to be a tough game for the Wings. The Avs have played them close in every meeting this season and the last thing they need is to face a team fighting for a playoff spot. They are going to have to build on yesterday’s performance and go a long way in returning to form if they want to come out of this one ahead.

Remember, the game is on Versus tonight.