Posts filed under “GameDay”

Abbreviated Game Day Notes: vs. Edmonton

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Since the Wings played the Oilers so recently, just a brief set up today:

… The Oilers lost their one game since Saturday, 6-3 n Toronto.

… They’re now 11 points out of a playoff spot, sitting at 14th in the West.

… It looks like the Oilers could be without Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Tom Renney.

… Khabibulin is the presumed starter.

… The Wings also lost their one game since Saturday: 3-1 in Phoenix.

… Thanks to the Blues 3-1 win over the Senators last night, their lead in the Central has been cut to 3 points. The Predators are also 3 back of them now since they earned a point at home against Vancouver in a shootout loss. The Blackhawks lost in regulation to Colorado, however, and remain at a more comfortable distance.

… Jan Mursak’s out and so is Mike Commodore.

… Joey MacDonald’s getting another start, which is good news relatively speaking. Jimmy skated, but didn’t face any shots. Apparently, he could be back as soon as Sunday.

… The Wings stumbled Monday, but need to get back on the horse tonight. They took the Oilers too lightly on Saturday and can’t make that mistake again.

Not with the Blues still on their annoyingly persistent trajectory.

Game Day Notes: @ Phoenix

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Update (1:01 PM): Mac gets the nod and Cleary’s playing, despite leaving practice early. - Matt

Update (12:41 PM): Stuart’s missing the skate with the flu, apparently. He’s supposedly probable for tonight. - Matt

… This is the fourth and final game between the Wings and Coyotes this season. The Wings lead the series 3-0, with 5-2, 3-2 (SO), and 3-2 (SO) wins.

… The Coyotes have played four times since we saw them last month and have split that stretch 2-2, alternating wins and losses. They dropped a game to Tampa Bay, won at home against Ottawa, lost at home to the Ducks and notched a home win against the Sharks on Saturday.

… That win put them at 23-21-8 and 54 points, which is good for 12th in the Conference. They’re only four points back of 8th-place Minnesota, however, and are in the beginning of a playoff push.

… The Coyotes are an anemic 11-10-4 at home, which should be a good sign for a Wings team looking to improve its road record.

… George breaks down the relevant media bits and pieces here.

… The Coyotes are still great at staying out of the box, with just 7.8 PIM/game, which is nearly a full minute better than the Wings’ 2nd-place ranking. That the Coyotes stay out of the box is probably good for our blood pressure tonight: fewer failed power plays.

… The Coyotes are relatively healthy, with just Dave Schlemko listed as out.

… Mike Smith is the presumptive starter. Jim Gintonio points out he rebounded from a bad game to come up with 32 saves in Saturday’s win. So, he’s on a bit of an upswing.

… The Wings are coming off a 5-4 SO loss to the Oilers Saturday night and will finish up a four-game road trip with this one. With the Coyotes looking to make a push and the Wings potentially looking to get home, things could be interesting.

… No lineup news yet, but there is something on the goaltending front: the backup job is open.

… Thanks to the losing effort Saturday, it could be that Mike Commodore and Cory Emmerton will be out in favor of Jakub Kindl and Jan Mursak.

… Babcock was very unimpressed with Ty Conklin’s performance in Edmonton, so it’s possible he’ll forego giving him another chance to step up and instead go for Joey MacDonald. We’ll see.

… The Wings don’t have any Central Division competitors active tonight, but they still need points. They weren’t very good Saturday night and have indicated they’d like to be better tonight. They’ve got the ability to back that up, so here’s hoping they do.

Game Day Notes: @ Edmonton

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… This is the third of four games between the Wings and Oilers this season. The Wings won both previous games, beginning with a 3-0 shutout in November and following that with a 3-2 decision in December.

… The Oilers went 4-7-2 in January, but started February with a bang, defeating the Blackhawks 8-4 at home Thursday night.

… That win was their 20th of the season, but they’ve already lost 31 games (5 of which came in OT/SO). They’re 13th in the West and 12 points out of a playoff spot.

…  Bigger than the fact of the 8-4 score Thursday night was that Sam Gagner tied an Oilers team record for points in a single game. Given the Oilers’ history includes Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey and other 80s super-scoring heros, that’s quite a feat. Those points accounted for almost a fourth of his production (30 points) this season.

… The Oilers points leader is Jordan Eberle, who’s notched 20 goals and 30 assists. Taylor Hall follows him with 38 points. Then it’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with 35, Ryan Smyth with 34, and then Gagner. They’ve got some guys who can score, with their top five not far off from the Wings’ top five. Their scoring thins out as you go down the list, however, which puts them at 18th in goals-per-game (2.57).

… Their goals differential is -15 and they’re 20th in goals-against-per-game at 2.82 (compare to the Wings’ goals-per-game of 3.10). But still, their young offensive skill’s enough reason to take them seriously, even if their inexperience has led to more failure than success.

… It looks like they’re going to be fully healthy, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is scheduled back.

… Devan Dubnyk is the presumed starter for the Oil tonight.

… The Wings are two games into a four game road trip  and are looking for their third win of this swing. They kicked off this post-Break trip with a win over the Flames on Tuesday and followed that up with a win over the Canucks on Thursday.

… They’re now 35-16-1 overall, and working toward improving their road record, which now stands at 15-14-0. Their 71 points is League-leading, and puts them four points over their nearest rival in the Central Division, St. Louis.

… The big news yesterday was the Jimmy Howard injury, which apparently took place here.  He’ll miss at least this game and Monday’s matchup with Phoenix, after which he’ll be reevaluated. He could be back as soon as the next time we see the Oilers: Wednesday. Or not.

… Less important from a team survival standpoint, but more important in just about every other way, was the news yesterday that Patrick Eaves may have a concussion. His jaw is healed but he’s unable to get back in the workout saddle  thanks to symptoms he’s experiencing. Once again, the insidious specter of head injuries rears its ugly head.

… The team had a casual non-practice day of broom ball, so there’s no lineup news yet. Kindl was in Thursday as a means to aid in the Wings’ puck possession game, but that may not be as much of a consideration against the Oilers. Mursak’s speed may help him get in at Emmerton’s expense, though.

… Ty Conklin gets his first chance to demonstrate that he still has something left in the tank while Jimmy’s out. He’ll be backed up by Joey MacDonald.

… The Wings are walking into a trap here if they’re not careful. The Oilers can be a very dangerous team, as Chicago found out the other night, and if the Wings don’t come prepared, it may not end well.

They’ve got a good lead in the Central built up, but the Blues won their first game after the Break last night and seem to be picking up where they left off. Chicago lost in Calgary, hilariously, but they don’t have room to relax. Jimmy, their season-long crutch, is out. It’s time for them to stand more on their own.

Game Day Notes: @ Vancouver

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Update (3:56 PM): There’s some discussion on Twitter about the Commodore/Kindl decision, with the question being why the more physical Commodore’s sitting in a game where revenge could  be an issue.

That’s the question asked of Helene St. James, who makes a really good point in response:

I hadn’t thought of that. But it makes sense in the context of the Wings’ longstanding preference for skill over rough stuff: a kid who can in theory aid in the puck movement game is more valuable in this situation than a guy who’s tougher, but not as skilled. And let’s face it: Commodore’s not a great fighter if it were to come to that.

So better that the Wings load up on the puck possession side and attempt to outdo the Canucks that way.

This Babcock guy, he knows what he’s doing. - Matt

Update (3:00 PM): I was half-right:

- Matt

… This is the third of four meetings between the Wings and Canucks this season. The series is tied 1-1-0, with the Wings winning the first game and the Canucks taking the second last month.

… The Canucks finished January 7-2-2 and won their last three of the month. Their losses came against San Jose (SO), Florida, Anaheim and LA (SO), but they beat Minnesota, Boston, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, the Sharks in a second meeting, the Oilers and the Blackhawks.

… That win over the Blackhawks came Tuesday night in overtime. Apparently, they couldn’t make it happen in regulation.

… And that win gave them 66 points, which is good for second in the West, and put them at 31-15-1 overall.

… Their home/away records are fairly balanced: 15-6-3 at home and 16-9-1 on the road.

… As George points out, the skate won’t be until later today, so the game day source notage via the media is limited. But you can be sure he’s right about the primary storyline for this game being the Kronwall hit from last time.

… So, this may be the game the Canucks set aside their interest in emulating Detroit … so they can beat up Detroit. Or try to.

… Roberto Luongo gets the nod for the Canucks. They rested him especially for this game. I now find it entertaining that Babcock didn’t think it necessary to rest Howard for this one. Sort of a “he’s Jimmy Howard. He’s got it.” thing.

… The Wings are coming off a 3-1 win over the Flames on Tuesday. It was a bit of a casual re-entry into the swing of things, so in theory, they should be ready to get down to real business tonight.

… We should see the return of Tomas Holmstrom to the lineup now that his knee swelling has gone down. Emmerton scoring a goal probably means he’ll stay in the lineup at Mursak’s expense.

… And Commodore’s probably in, thanks to the winning lineup rule.

… Jimmy Howard got yesterday off, but will start this one.

… If the Canucks are stupid enough to get distracted by the Kronwall hit, the Wings’d better be on their toes from a power play perspective. Let the Canucks run around as long. The Wings just need to keep their heads up to avoid the worst and put the puck in the net to accomplish what matters in a hockey game. They’ve got a divisional race on the line and that’s more important than being dragged down to the Canucks’ level, should things go that route.

The Blackhawks (@ Edmonton) and Predators (@ Philadelphia) are active tonight. The lead is safe whatever happens, but that’s no reason for the Wings not to do their part by winning.

Keep running.

Game Day Notes: @ Calgary

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Update (3:28 PM): More from Khan on the injections Homer got. - Matt

Update (2:43 PM):

Autocorrect fail: it’s “Synvisc“, claims Google. And it means Holmstrom’s body’s falling apart. But that’s no surprise. More info on the stuff here (via).

Apparently, he had a bad reaction to it. - Matt

Update (2:27 PM): Also, Tomas Holmstrom’s out and Mursak’s in. No word yet on why, though I’ve asked both Khan and St. James if it’s a scatch or an injury situation. - Matt

Update (2:11 PM): Roster update:

Thoughts so on Commie. Disappointing, though, about Jimmy. If they can’t start a backup the first game after their starter went to the All Star Game, when will they start him? - Matt

… This is the fourth and final matchup between the Wings and Flames this season. The Flames lead the series 2-1-0, with bookend wins in the three games played so far. The Wings won the middle game in late November.

… The Flames are 5-5-1 in January and 23-21-6 overall. That’s good for 11th in the West. But they’re just three points back of 8th place.

… Before the break, the Flames won two of their last three, but finished on a losing note at home against San Jose a week ago.

… Over the Break, they dealt Brendan Morrison to the Blackhawks, which is pretty good news for tonight, as he has 25 points in 43 career games against the Wings, but less than good news for the Central Division race.

… As George points out, the Calgary media’s putting some pressure on Mike Cammalleri, so watch him tonight.

… All Star Jerome Iginla crossed the 500 goal plateau earlier this month, but it hasn’t led to a real goal outburst, as he’s put the puck in the net just twice in 7 games since. Still, he’s annoying good against the Wings, with 54 points in 59 games, so he’ll be a threat tonight.

… The Flames will be without Derek Smith, David Moss, Alex Tanguay and Curtis Glencross.

… Presumably, Miikka Kiprusoff will start tonight for the Flames.

… The Wings will look to improve upon their 9-3-0 record in January and rebound from their awful showing in Montreal last week.

… And, as highlighted by mLive, the Freep, the News and the Press, the Wings will be looking to get their road record to a more acceptable place. Currently, it stands at 13-14-0.

… The Central Race stands thus: the Wings at 67 points, the Blues at 65, and the Hawks and Predators at 64. Every point counts, especially with St. Louis now getting healthier.

… Thanks to the time difference, there’s no lineup news yet apart from the fact that Lidstrom will be back in, but it’s reasonable to assume Jakub Kindl will be out in favor of Mike Commodore thanks to his awful night in Montreal. And because it was a loss, Jan Mursak may get in over Cory Emmerton.

… There was some discussion of resting Jimmy Howard tonight, so it may be that Ty Conklin will be in net. If so, he needs to start swimming. Enough of this sink crap.

… The Flames are honoring Brad McCrimmon tonight, which is going to be emotional. Just going to their site and seeing the background tribute there is emotional.

… The Wings got their break and time with their families. Tonight they need to get back to business and start making this road troubles stuff right, regardless of who’s in the net.

Keep the lead.

Game Day Notes: @ Montreal

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Update (6:32 PM):

Great. As Kulfan notes, he must be pretty sick. - Matt

Update (12:49 PM): Apparently, we do have a change:

Good news on Stuart, but the Commodore/Kindl switch makes me wonder why we can’t get a Mursak/Emmerton one.

Also, there’s this:

- Matt

… This is the only  meeting between the Wings and Habs this season. The all-time series stands at 230-303-96 from the Wings’ perspective. Here’s hoping they can climb a game closer to .500 tonight.

… The Canadiens are in the middle of a sub-par season by historical standards, having posted an 18-21-9 record through 48 games. That puts them in fourth place in the Northeast and 10 points out of the playoffs.

… They’re not off to a great start to 2012, with a 4-3-2 record since January 1, but they’re coming off a 3-1 win over Toronto on Saturday. That came the night after losing 5-4 to Pittsburgh in a shootout.

… The word for the Canadiens’ season this year has been drama, between firing an assistant coach in October and a head coach last month, and pulling Mike Cammalleri out of a game due to a trade. It’s kinda fun to watch.

… The leading scorer for the Habs is Erik Cole, who’s put up 36 points so far this year. Max Pacioretty’s 33 are second. Those two have put the puck in the net 18 and 16 times respectively. Third on the team in goals is Rene Bourque, who was part of the Cammalleri deal and put most of his pucks in the net while with Calgary.

… The D-man they lean on the most is young PK Subban, who’s 23:55 TOI/G leads the team by a good minute. Apparently, it’s a big story that he was yelled at in practice yesterday.

… Montreal will be without Brian Gionta, Andrei Markov, Petteri Nokeleinen and Ryan White. It looks like Scott Gomez skipped out on the optional skate this morning because he’s sick, but he’s supposedly going to play. Travis Moen is out.

… Carey Price will be in net for the Habs.

… The Wings are coming off a 3-1 over the Blues in which they solidified their hold on the Central Division lead. The Blues losing in a shootout and the Hawks losing in regulation didn’t change much. Except that they now have to keep an eye on the Predators, who moved up to third in the Central above Chicago.

… Hab writer Stu Hackel has a very complimentary preview of the Wings’ side of this game here.

… Possibly big lineup news: Nick Lidstrom’s a game-time decision after leaving the skate early due to sickness.

… No word yet on any other possible lineup changes, but there is good news on the Stuart front: he was on the ice this morning. Assuming that means he’s good to go and if Babcock’s back in a winning lineup mode after his brief dabbling in a rotation, there should be no change, pending the Lidstrom decision.

… Jimmy Howard will be in net.

… The Wings have a pretty good thing going here with a 7-streak on top of their home success. Now they need to carry that on the road for a bit, starting tonight. The Habs are struggling, but waltzing into Montreal counting on that continuing tonight would be foolish. They need the points to maintain their lead and to get them, they’ll need to be on top of their game.

… Again, a reminder: tune in early tonight if you can to catch Nick on NHL 36. Here’s hoping it’s not the only time we see him tonight.

Game Day Notes: vs. St. Louis

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… This is the fifth, and so far most important, meeting between the Wings and the Blues. So far, the series is tied at 2-2-0, with the Blues winning the first two and the Wings taking the second pair. The series finale isn’t until April 4th in St. Louis, and if the current course holds, it’ll be huge.

… Since we last saw the Blues, on December 31st, they’ve been nearly unbeatable, going 8-0-1. Their only loss in that span came to the Canucks on the 12th. Since then, they’ve won four in a row.

… That’s improved their record to 29-12-6, which is good for second in the Central at 64 points.

… Under Ken Hitchcock, the Blues are 23-5-6, which is pretty impressive for a team that was 6-7-0 when he stepped on the bench for the first time.

… Win #23 for Hitch came Saturday at home against the Sabres with a 4-2 score.

… One possible edge for the Wings tonight is the fact that the Blues play at home tomorrow against Pittsburgh. If they get caught looking ahead at all, there’s an opening.

… The Blues and David Backes dodged a bullet Saturday night when Backes went heavily into the boards and had to leave the game for a bit. Backes leads the team in points and goals with 37 and 16, respectively.

… St. Louis is 17th in goals/game at 2.55, but pretty solidly in first place in goals allowed/game at 1.94, having allowed just 96 goals all season. Hitchcock has them playing pretty tight, and their goaltending stable’s done a lot to help as well.

… They’ll be short Alex Steen, Andy McDonald, and Kent Huskins tonight.

… Jaroslav Halak will be in net. He hasn’t been quite as good as Brian Elliot this year, but still has a 2.00 GAA and a .920 save-percentage on top of a 14-7-5 record. Update: I should note three of his last five starts have been shutouts. - Matt

… The Wings are coming off a shootout win over the Blue Jackets, which was their sixth win in a row and their 16th consecutive at home.

… They’re currently in first place in the League and have a good opportunity to solidify their position a bit with a win tonight.

… It looks like they’ll be using the same lineup they used against the Jackets, though Babcock has reserved the right to change his mind during warmups. If he sticks with it, it’ll mean Mike Commodore instead of Jakub Kindl and Cory Emmerton instead of Jan Mursak.

… Jimmy Howard will be in net and looking for win #30 of the season.

… This game is huge, obviously. Points won here could make all the difference in April. The Blues may not be able to keep up the pace, but the Wings are on a streak that’s not going to last forever either. The important thing is to take advantage of opportunities like this and for them to position themselves in the best possible way going forward.

The last thing anybody wants is to miss out on the Central title and a guaranteed third-or-better seed because of a blown January game. Given the tightness of this race, that’s entirely possible.

Win this one in regulation.