Monthly Archive for February, 2008Page 4 of 6

Rafalski out, Quincey in

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 14, 2008
in Brian Rafalski, Darren McCarty, Injuries, Jonathan Ericsson and Kyle Quincey
. 3 Comments

Update (1:55 PM): In his post on the Rafalski/Quincey situation, Ansar Khan includes an update on Niklas Kronwall. Apparently, he is hoping to play Sunday against the Stars. Khan provides no evidence for whether that’s realistic or not.

Also, it does not appear that Dominik Hasek (hip flexor) is very near returning, as Mike Babcock professed not to know his status. - Matt

Ryan Foherty reports that Brian Rafalski (groin) will sit out tomorrow night’s game against Columbus. Evidently, he suffered the injury during the Nashville game Tuesday night.

The team has called up Kyle Quincey from the AHL to fill in during Rafalski’s absence. To be frank, I don’t understand why Quincey was chosen instead of Jonathan Ericsson., who has over twice the points Quincey has and is +4. Quincey is -5 and, by all accounts, has not been the same player since being demoted to Grand Rapids after playing with the Wings in the playoffs.

Ericsson, I’m told, has had a solid year in the midst of the Griffins’ troubles this season. Perhaps that’s the reason the Wings opted for Quincey: the Griffins cannot afford to lose Ericsson and Quincey could use the confidence boost.

It doesn’t appear to be a waiver issue, as Ericsson is described by Red Wings Central as having a “waiver-free status.”

In any case,  Rafalski is a big loss, even though he’s only day-to-day. The last thing the Wings needed was to lose one of their better skaters as they head into a contest with a young Columbus team that’s fighting for a playoff spot.

It will, however, be interesting to see Derek Meech take on a larger role, if only for one game. My confidence in #14 is growing.

I apologize for the lack of posting this week. It’s been a bit busy at my end, but hopefully things will quiet down after this week.

By the way, I met Darren McCarty Tuesday night in Holland.  I’ll be at his home debut tomorrow night, as well.

GameDay: @ Nashville (29-22-6, 64 Pts) 8:00 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 12, 2008
in 2007-2008, GameDay and Predators
. 0 Comments

Update (3:45 PM): Bruce MacLeod has projected lines and pairings for both teams posted here. Basically, the top two lines for the Wings should look the same, but the bottom two may see some mixing.

He also confirms that Matt Ellis will dress tonight at the expense of Aaron Downey.  - Matt

Update (11:39 AM): HockeyTownTodd has his pre-game numbers posted. - Matt

Tonight is the fourth of eight games between the Detroit Red Wings and the Nashville Predators this season. The Wings lead the series 2-1 with wins November 7th (3-2 SO) and December 10th (2-1). The Predators won the November 22nd meeting, 3-2. The remaining games will all be played in March.

The Predators are 3-1-1 in February. They began the month with a 3-2 overtime win over Phoenix and continued with a 1-0 win over Carolina. They lost 2-1 in overtime to Tampa Bay on the 7th and lost again two nights later in San Jose, 4-3. They met the Coyotes for the second time this month on Sunday and came out on the winning side of a 6-3 decision. Tonight is the first of a three-game homestand.

Nashville is second in the Central Division with 64 points, 23 behind Detroit. They are currently in 8th place in the West.

J.P. Dumont and Jason Arnott lead the team in points with 50 each. Alexander Radulov is the leading goal-scorer with 21. Dumont (20), Arnoot (19), Martin Erat (16), David Legwand (13), and Radek Bonk (12) are the other Predators with double-digit goal totals.

The Tennessean lists Erat (back) as questionable for tonight. Steve Sullivan (back) and Jordin Tootoo (hip flexor) are out.  Dumont is planning on playing through some breathing pain.

Chris Mason should be in net for the Predators tonight.

For the Predators’ perspective, see Pred-Joe and On the Forecheck.

The Wings fell to 3-2-1 in February with their third-straight loss Sunday. The skid began last Thursday at home against the Kings after they blew a two-goal lead in the third period. It continued with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Saturday.  On Sunday, they came out on the wrong end of a blown no-goal call and lost 3-2 to the Ducks. The team is two games away from a five-game road trip to cities such as Dallas and Denver, as well as Calgary, Vancouver, and Edmonton.

Despite their current troubles, the Wings remain atop the NHL, with their 87 points giving them an 18-point lead over the second-ranked team, Ottawa.

Henrik Zetterberg leads the team with 33 goals, but he has not scored since the LA game.  He also leads the team in points with 70. Pavel Datsyuk leads the team in  assists with 48. Six active Wings have double-digit goals: Tomas Holmstrom (20), Datsyuk (19), Valtteri Filppula (15), Jiri Hudler (11), Johan Franzen (11), and Brian Rafalski (10).

The Wings will be without Niklas Kronwall (sternoclavicular sprain) for the 7th game. Derek Meech will continue to gain NHL experience.

The team will also be without Dan Cleary (broken jaw) for the second straight game. My guess is we’ll see Matt Ellis in the lineup tonight rather than Aaron Downey.

Projected lines:

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

Projected pairings:

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Lebda-Lilja
Meech-Chelios

I noticed Meech got some time with Lilja Sunday afternoon. I wouldn’t be surprised if that continues, as Babcock seems to be gaining confidence in the young defenseman.

With Dominik Hasek day-to-day with an inflammed hip flexor, Chris Osgood will be the starter. Jimmy Howard will back him up.

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.

OklahomaWingNut’s GDT is here.

Tonight is a big game for the Wings. They have a bit of a slide going and with the tough schedule they have coming up, it could turn into a tailspin if they don’t pull out of it quickly. Friday, the Blue Jackets will be playing for a playoff spot. Sunday, the Wings are in Dallas, the only team that’s anywhere near them in the West. Monday, they’re facing a team that has given them trouble all season, the Avalanche. After that, it’s a three-game Western Canada swing.

Tonight, the Predators will be fighting to maintain their 8th seed. Despite that, they present a good opportunity for the Wings to return to their winning ways. I can’t say that a win tonight is essential, but it’ll only get tougher over the next seven or so games.

Perspective

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 11, 2008
in Injuries, Links, Panthers and Richard Zednik
. 0 Comments

Frustration over disallowed goals seems a petty concern relative to this. More here, here, here, here, and here. Get well soon, Richard.

2/11 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 11, 2008
in Dominik Hasek, Ducks and Injuries
. 3 Comments

… I don’t have a recap for the Ducks game, but I will say a few things about it. First, Anaheim outplayed Detroit yesterday. The Wings looked exactly like a team that had played the day before and they were fortunate to keep it close. That said, the Ducks got some huge breaks.

The non-call on a clear case of goaltender interference by Kunitz was just one example.  The incessant interference on Detroit forwards skating into the zone was another. The Samuelsson diving call was one more.

The biggest break, however, came with 40.7 seconds left.

I’m a firm believer in the idea that profanity should only be used sparingly and in times of extreme emotion.  Otherwise it loses its shock value. I’ve been pissed off enough before to use language I would otherwise not use on this site, but I have so far refrained from doing so. Not this time, however.

I’m in frank agreement with the fans at Joe Louis Arena: Dan O’Halleran’s call on Nick Lidstrom’s goal was bullshit.

That’s all I have to say about that. Read the post and comments at Abel to Yzerman if you want more. George Malik’s essay-like comment is particularly worth a read.

… As if a three-game losing streak wasn’t bad enough, more bad news has come: Dominik Hasek has an inflammed hip flexor and is day-to-day.

Bruce MacLeod reports that the team claims Dom’s new status is strictly precautionary and that he could return as soon as Sunday’s road game against the Stars.

This is certainly no time to panic, as the Wings still have a league leader who can take over the reigns once again: Chris Osgood. Obviously, a healthy Dom is preferable over an injured one, but there’s no need to rush him back. The key thing is that he be healthy for the playoffs.

In Hasek’s absence, Jimmy Howard will take the team’s backup role. To make room for him, Niklas Kronwall has been placed on the IR.

GameDay: vs. Anaheim (30-22-7, 67 Pts) 3:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 10, 2008
in 2007-2008, Ducks and GameDay
. 2 Comments

This afternoon, the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings meet for the fourth time this season. Detroit leads the series 2-1 with wins October 3rd (3-2 SO) and January 23rd (2-1). Anaheim won the October 15th meeting, 6-3.

The match-up is the ‘NHL Game of the Week’  and will be televised on NBC.

The Ducks are 3-3-1 since January 23rd. The night after losing to Detroit, they kicked off a nine-game road trip with a 3-1 loss in LA. On January 30th, they were on the losing side of a 5-1 decision in Minnesota. Two nights later, they skated to a 1-0 shootout loss in St. Louis.  Less than 24 hours later, they were shutout by Martin Baron and the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1.

They turned things around with a 3-0 win over the Islanders on February 5th and continued by beating the Rangers 4-1 on Thursday. On Friday, they extended their winning streak to three games with a 2-1 decision in New Jersey.  The win put them at 14-15-3 on the road this season.

Anaheim’s 67 points is good for third in the Pacific Division, behind San Jose (69) and Dallas (73).  They are currently fifth in the West and would face the Sharks in the first round if the playoffs started today.

Teemu Selanne returned to the ice from semi-retirement  on February 5th. The Ducks are 3-0-0 since then, though he has only two assists over that span. The team’s other late returnee, Scott Niedermayer, has three goals and ten assists through 25 games. Anaheim is 15-7-2 since his December 16th return.

Corey Perry leads the Ducks in goals with 28 and his 48 points are good for second on the team. Ryan Getzlaf has 40 assists and 59 points to lead Anaheim. Aside from Getzlaf and Perry, three other Ducks have ten or more goals: Chris Kunitz (16), Todd Bertuzzi (12), and Chris Pronger (11). Doug Weight has nine goals.

The Ducks will be without shutdown specialist Sami Pahlsson (abdomen), though it sounds like he’s close to making a return. The LA Times reports that forward Travis Moen (flu) practiced yesterday, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be in.

JS Giguere will get the start tonight.

For the Ducks’ perspective, see Anaheim Duck Fan, The Battle of California (Gameday here), Ducks Wire,  Girl with a Puck, and On the Pond.

The Wings are 4-1-1 since January 23rd, but have lost their last two. First, they blew a 3-1 lead to lose 5-3 to the Kings on Thursday. Then, they blew a 2-1 lead to lose 3-2 in overtime in Toronto yesterday. It was a game in which they were fortunate to get a point. Dominik Hasek was not as good as he has been lately, but he was not given much support as the Wings’ defensive coverage was not as it should have been.

On one hand, Nick Lidstrom made a strong case for his MVP candidacy under the blinding Toronto media spotlight, posting a goal and an assist on two nice plays. On the other, his case may have been hurt, as the first Leafs’ goal deflected in off his skate and the game-tying goal came after his poke-check on Mats Sundin failed. Still, he may get a pass because both shots should have been stopped by Hasek.

The team leaders in points, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, notched their 69th and 66th respectively. Zetterberg was given a second assist on the Lidstrom goal despite the fact that the order of passing was Zetterberg to Lidstrom to Datsyuk to Lidstrom and goal. Hank made the outlet pass, but Datsyuk and Lidstrom combined to make the play.

The Wings lost a major part of their forward corps during the first period yesterday. Toward the end of a power play, a Mikael Samuelsson one-timer hit Dan Cleary in the face and broke his jaw. Cleary will have to undergo surgery and will be out 6-8 weeks, effectively the remainder of the regular season.

Jiri Hudler sat out the Toronto game as Mike Babcock sent the young forward a message. He may be watching from the luxury box once again as the size and physicality of the Ducks together with his current scoring slump give Babcock an easy excuse to bench him once more.

Aaron Downey should get his second consecutive game in the lineup, and if Hudler sits again, Matt Ellis will dress.

Niklas Kronwall (clavicle) will miss his fifth game. Derek Meech will fill in again.

Projected lines:

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

I thought that second line played very well following Cleary’s injury. It looks like a good mix. I put Franzen in the middle rather than Filppula because the Wings like him at center against teams with big forwards like Anaheim has.

Projected pairings:

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Lebda-Lilja
Meech-Chelios

Chris Osgood should get the start today.

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 has his pre-game numbers posted here.

This is a huge game for both teams. It’s the first time this season that the Wings will meet the fully reconstituted Ducks and the fact that they’ll have to do it without two key players will be a good test of their resiliency. The Ducks, on the other hand, will be looking to see how they  measure  up now that they have all the pieces in place.

The Wings will have to find a way to get out of the funk that has been evident in their game over the past week or so and the Ducks may be just the team to jolt them back to form. If they rise to the challenge as they did on January 23rd, this will be a good game and will live up to the hype. If they don’t, it may get ugly.

They played in front of a national Canadian audience yesterday and underperformed. They have a chance to  make up for it in front of a national US audience today.

Puck breaks Cleary’s jaw

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 9, 2008
in Dan Cleary and Injuries
. 5 Comments

Update (10:48 PM): TSN is reporting that Cleary will have surgery to repair his jaw and will miss 6-8 weeks (thanks Brian). That would put his return at the March 22nd game in Columbus at the earliest.

Or the first round of the playoffs at the latest.

This obviously is a major blow to the team’s secondary scoring capabilities. However, they do have the personnel to pick up the slack, so a trade is not a necessity by any means.

Mike Babcock sent a message to Jiri Hudler today by benching him (turns out it wasn’t an injury after all). Clearly, one goal in ten games is not going to cut it and Babcock’s move will put the other forwards on notice as well.

Johan Franzen, in particular, should benefit from this turn of events. Here’s hoping he fills Cleary’s shoes like we know he can.

Another positive spin on this? It means Cleary won’t get traded.  - Matt

The Wings lost 3-2 in overtime to the Maple Leafs today, but more importantly they lost Dan Cleary. The Red Wings forward took a Mikael Samuelsson shot to the face and suffered a nondisplaced fracture of his jaw in the first period. He did not return and will not play tomorrow against Anaheim.

Mike Babcock told Bruce MacLeod,

“I don’t have a timeline or anything like that. We’ll find out when we get back. Our doctors will have a better idea.”

For comparison, we can look to LA Kings defenseman Rob Blake, who suffered a nondisplaced ankle fracture  on January 15th. Blake played six games until he was taken out of the lineup at the start of February. He is expected to miss a total of two weeks.

We’ll know more tomorrow, but we can probably expect Cleary to miss close to the rest of the month.  This is a big loss, to be sure. The strong play of the Wings’ second line of Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, and Mikael Samuelsson today softens the blow, however.

GameDay: @ Toronto (22-25-9, 53 Pts) 3:00 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 9, 2008
in 2007-2008, GameDay and Leafs
. 5 Comments

Update (3:07 PM): Bruce MacLeod reports that Jiri Hudler (left shoulder) will sit out the game  today. Hudler was hurt during the first period the Kings game, but played through it through the end, though he was limited to just 14 shifts and 9:13 in TOI.

Aaron Downey will dress instead and I assume that  means Dallas Drake will also play. - Matt 

The Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs meet this afternoon for the only time this season. The Wings won the last meeting, 5-1 on December 9th, 2006 in Detroit. It is their first trip to Toronto since December 6th, 2003, when they lost 5-2. Detroit leads the all-time series 274-272-93-0.

Dan Marouelli and Dean Warren will officiate the game. David Brisebois and Greg Devorski will man the lines.

The Maple Leafs are 7-9-1 thus far in 2008, with five of those losses coming together from January 3rd to January 12th. They won their three games from January 15th to January 19th, but are 2-3-1 since. They lost to Washington, St. Louis, and Carolina  (OT) before pulling out a win over the Senators on February 2nd. Three nights later, they lost 8-0 to Florida, but they rebounded from that embarrassment with a 4-2 win over Montreal on the 7th.

The Leafs are last in the Northeast Division with 53 points and are 14th in the East. They are four points from last place in the League.

Toronto will be without Alexei Ponikarovsky (shoulder), Mark Bell (orbital bone), Chad Kilger (personal) and Daryle Boyce (shoulder).

The Globe and Mail reports that Alex Steen (shoulder) will return this afternoon. Bryan McCabe (broken hand) returned to the lineup Thursday. Nik Antropov will be free to return from a three-game suspension.

Mats Sundin leads the team in goals (22), assists (35) and points (57). Antropov (18), Ponikarovsky (13), Matt Stajan (12), Jason Blake (11), and Steen (10) are the other Leafs with double-digit goals. Former Red Wing Boyd Devereaux has seven goals and nine assists. McCable has just four goals and eight assists. Niklas Kronwall’s brother, Staffan, has zero points over ten games and hasn’t played since December 4th.

It looks like Vesa Toskala will get the nod for the Leafs today.

For the Leafs’ perspective, see No Stanley Cups Allowed,  Battle of Ontario,  Bay Street Bullies,  Bitter Leafs Fan Page,  Bring Back Potvin (preview here),  Buds Banter, and Pension Plan Puppets (preview here).

The Wings are 12-3-1 in 2008 thus far. Three of their losses came in a clump in middle of January and snapped a four-game win streak that started the year. After a loss to Atlanta on the 15th, they rattled off eight straight wins, but that stretch ended Thursday night with their 5-3 loss to the Kings.

Detroit is first in the League with 86 points, 15 ahead of the #2 team, Dallas.

Henrik Zetterberg scored his team-leading 32nd and 33rd goals Thursday night. Pavel Datsyuk leads the team with 47 assists and his 65 points are second-best to Zetterberg’s 68. Dan Cleary (20), Tomas Holmstrom (20), Datsyuk (18), Valtteri Filppula (15), Jiri Hudler (11), Brian Rafalski (10), and Johan Franzen (10) are the other Wings with 10 or more goals.

Niklas Kronwall (clavicle) is the only injured Red Wing at the moment. Derek Meech will fill in for the fourth straight game.

Matt Ellis was in the lineup Thursday night at Dallas Drake’s expense. I suspect there’s a chance Babcock will go with Aaron Downey today, which would mean Drake would sit another game.

Projected lines:

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Samuelsson-Filppula-Cleary
Franzen-Draper-Maltby
Kopecky-Hudler-Downey

Projected pairings

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Lebda-Lilja
Meech-Chelios

Dominik Hasek will be in net for the Wings.

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 has his numbers posted here. OklahomaWingNut’s GDT is here.

This is obviously a big prestige game for both teams. Although the Leafs have struggled greatly this season, a win in the media storm in Toronto on Hockey Day in Canada would be definite boost to the Wings as they head into another big prestige game tomorrow. For the Leafs, a win over the top team in the League would be huge for team morale.

The Wings were embarrassed Thursday night and that should not bode well for Toronto as Detroit will be looking to rebound in a big way.

This is definitely one of those days where I wish I was at home in the Detroit area rather than here in West Michigan where CBC is not offered.

Wings acquire Lemieux

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 8, 2008
in Links and Trade Rumors
. 0 Comments

No, not that one. But still. To have a Lemieux in the Wings’ system  just feels a little wrong.

Link (via Snapshots)

On the defense

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 8, 2008
in Brett Lebda and Derek Meech
. 9 Comments

I was only able to watch the first period last night, so I did not see the collapse that resulted in an embarrassing loss to the League’s last place team. However, you can read all about it over at Gorilla Crouch, where Dave suggests the game was further evidence that the team needs to acquire a top four defenseman at the deadline.

I have to disagree. The Wings are set as far as the top four is concerned. Nick Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, and Andreas Lilja rank among the better top fours in the League. The temporary second paring of Lilja and Brett Lebda is just that, temporary, and will be broken up when Kronwall returns toward the end of the month. They don’t need a top four guy.

Say they do go after a top four guy. What would the defense look like with a new guy of that caliber?

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-new guy
Lilja-Chelios

Tell me that third pairing isn’t a little scary. Both players are strong defensive defensemen, but they are two of the slowest Red Wings. What about this?

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Lilja-new guy
Kronwall-Chelios

So, the team’s best young and third-highest paid defenseman would be relegated to third pairing minutes.  Great. How about this?

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Lilja-Kronwall
new guy-Chelios

What’s the point of acquiring a top four guy if he’s playing on the third pairing?

None of the above scenarios do much for me.

You’ll notice the absence of  Brett Lebda in those mock-ups. That’s because a call for a top four defenseman is an attack on #22. I think Brett’s been something of a disappointment this season because he’s not producing offensively. However, he is a great asset to the team and the argument can be made that he has been underutilized. The last thing the Wings need going into the postseason, where team speed is essential, is to push one of their best skaters out of the lineup.

You might say they’d take Lilja out instead. But if the goal of getting a top four guy is to get larger and more physical, dropping Lilja would make little sense.

This lineup argument is one thing. But the key is the fact that acquiring a top four guy like Rob Blake (who is likely headed to Anaheim) or Brad Stuart would cost far too much. They don’t need a top four guy and they can’t really afford one anyway.

A depth (i.e. a 7th or 8th man) defenseman may be affordable, however, and is something Ken Holland should consider, given Derek Meech’s inexperience.

For the most part I’m actually comfortable with the idea of Meech as injury insurance, especially since he’d play with Chris Chelios, but I’d be more comfortable if the team at least had the option of putting in a veteran. Meech is a strong young defenseman, but his lack of playing time at the NHL level is a concern. If he sees the ice more often down the stretch, that concern would be addressed somewhat, but a veteran still may not be a bad idea.

GameDay: vs. Los Angeles (22-30-3, 47 Pts) 7:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 7, 2008
in 2007-2008, GameDay and Kings
. 1 Comment

Update (5:15 PM): The Kings have placed Rob Blake on the IR. - Matt

Update (2:56 PM): Rudy Kelly of The Battle of California has posted his preview of the game. - Matt

Update (1:21 PM): Via NHL Media: Mike Hasenfratz (30) and Steve Kozari (40) will referee the game tonight, and Scott Cherry (50) and Mike Cvic (88) will  man the lines. - Matt

Update (1:16 PM): A couple GDTs:

- Matt
Tonight the LA Kings and the Detroit Red Wings meet for the fourth and final time this season. Detroit leads the series 3-0, with wins October 14th (4-1), December 19th (6-2), and January 22nd (3-0).

The Kings are 3-1-1 since January 22nd, with their only losses coming to Philadelphia (3-2 OT) on the 29th and  New Jersey (6-3) on February 2nd. They rebounded from their loss to the Wings with a 3-1 win over the Ducks on the 24th and beat the Islanders 3-1 two days after losing to the Flyers. On Tuesday, they defeated the Rangers 4-2. They are four games into an eight-game stretch of road game, seven of which are after the All Star Break.

LA is fifth in the Pacific Division and last in the League. They are two points behind Tampa Bay.

Anze Kopitar leads the Kings with 50 points. His 21 goals are second-best to Dustin Brown’s 24. Three other Kings have 10 or more goals: Cammalleri (15), Alexander Frolov (13), and Patrick O’Sullivan (12).

The Free Press lists Rob Blake (ankle) as out and Kevin Dallman (foot) and Ladislav Nagy (neck) as questionable for tonight. Blake suffered a broken ankle on January 15th, but played through it for six games before going down for two weeks at the start of the month. The Kings put Nagy on the IR on Tuesday while activating forward Mike Cammalleri.

Jason LaBarbera should get the start tonight. If he does, he’ll be backed up by the newly-recalled Dan Cloutier.

For the Kings’ perspective, see The Battle of California,  Inside the Kings,  Hockeywood Tonight,  Purple Crushed Velvet, and  A Queen Among Kings.

The Wings are 5-0-0 since January 22nd with wins over Anaheim, Phoenix, Colorado, Boston, and Minnesota. They have won eight in a row.

Detroit leads the League with a 41-10-4 record through 55 games.

The Wings have three 20 or more goal scorers: Henrik Zetterberg (31), Tomas Holmstrom (20) and Dan Cleary (20). Pavel Datsyuk is not far behind with 18. Johan Franzen joined the 10 or more goals club Tuesday with his 10th of the season. Brian Rafalski (10), Jiri Hudler (11), and Valtteri Filppula (15) round out the Wings’ double-digit scorers. As the Freep points out today, Hudler is goalless in nine and pointless in six.

Niklas Kronwall (shoulder) is the team’s only injured player. Derek Meech will fill in once again.

There should be no changes to the lineup tonight.

Projected lines (via Red Wings Corner):

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

As usual, expect some mixing as the game goes on.

Projected pairings:

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Lebda-Lilja
Meech-Chelios

I expect Chris Osgood to get the start tonight.

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 has his game-day numbers posted.

This is a key game for the Wings, who must demonstrate that they can maintain concentration even when playing an opponent as low in the standings as the Kings. LA has been strong lately and a win cannot be taken for granted.  If Detroit takes this game seriously, the Kings don’t stand a chance. If the Wings are complacent, however, LA could make a statement.