by true Citizens of Hockeytown
With Brendan Morrow’s goal in the fourth overtime last night, Dallas defeated San Jose 2-1 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals to face Detroit.
The schedule (via Mirtle):
Game 1: Thursday, May 8 in Detroit
Game 2: Saturday, May 10
Game 3: Monday, May 12 in Dallas
Game 4: Wednesday, May 14
Game 5: *Saturday, May 17 in Detroit
Game 6: *Monday, May 19 in Dallas
Game 7: *Wednesday, May 21 in Detroit
More to come.
The San Jose Sharks defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 in overtime last night to stay alive in their series. They play again on Sunday, so we’ll have to wait at least until then to know who the Wings will play in the Conference Finals.
Also, the Wings are hoping the third round will start on Thursday so they can rest and recover from various aches and pains. Just so long as they pick up where they left off.
Update (3:57 PM): “Is the President’s Daughter Dating a Ranger?” asks Eric McErlain. - Matt
Update (3:49 PM): Tom Benjamin has more thoughts on the firing of Dave Nonis. Meanwhile, Nonis defends his actions as Vancouver’s GM. - Matt
Update (12:13 PM): According to the Washington Post’s Tarik El-Bashir, former Red Wing Sergei Fedorov will play between Alexander Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov tomorrow night in Philadelphia.
Rookie Niklas Backstrom has been moved down to the second line. - Matt
Update (8:31 AM): George Malik has the latest on the Brunnstrom saga. - Matt
… The Sidney Crosby Beard Watch: Day 8.
… The Sharks avoided going down 3-1 in their series with Calgary last night with a 3-2 comeback win.
… And San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov continued his excellent post-season by … allowing two goals on ten shots. Maybe playing him in 77 games was a mistake, Ron Wilson.
… The Avalanche took apart the Wild 5-1 last night. It was the first time in the series that the game did not go to overtime. It’s now tied up 2-2.
… Anaheim staved off a Dallas sweep last night with a 4-2 win on the road. Ah well.
… The Caps are having trouble carrying through on their impressive regular season finish. They dropped another game to Philadelphia last night, falling behind 2-1 in their series. They must now win on the road and display some defensive ability in the process.
… Montreal did what we hope the Wings will do tonight: go up 3-1 in their series.
… Steve, the Media guy at Kukla’s Korner, has some hard words for those who say NBC’s coverage of the Wings/Predators game yesterday was biased in Nashville’s favor.
He presents a good argument, but as someone who watched the game, it was hard not to come to the conclusion that the NBC people were disappointed the Predators didn’t win.
… The Ducks are in trouble after losing 5-2 at home to the Stars last night. They are down 2-0 in their series. Awesome.
… Not so awesome: apparrently, Fabian Brunnstrom is about to become a Canuck. Obviously, I’d love to see him come to Detroit and add to our Swede total, but if the kid wants guaranteed playing time, I can’t blame him for chosing Vancouver. Even if the organizaiton leaves much to be desired.
… “The Red Wings are ripe for the pickin’,” says Aaron Portzline. That guy really hates Detroit, doesn’t he?
… With the Griffins wrapping up their season with a pair of wins, the Wings have called up a group of players to help sharpen things up in practice: Jimmy Howard, Jonathan Ericsson, Jakub Kindl, Kyle Quincey, Cory Emmerton, Darren Helm, and Matthias Ritola.
Emmerton and Helm, by the way, looked great Friday night.
The coaching staff and equipment manager have also been called up.
… I only caught the first period of the Wings’ 4-1 win over the Blues last night. I was reasonably impressed with what I saw, though it’s obvious they aren’t quite firing on all cylinders yet. Still, it’s a marked improvement over their February play, that’s for sure.
I have to say something about the phantom Pavel Datsyuk call that led to the Blues’ late first period power play. What the heck was that? I’d like to think that the official who called the penalty knows the difference between a trip and a player falling on his own. Apparently not.
In the end, it doesn’t matter, but my confidence in the officiating is waning. What with the missed call in the Sharks game Friday night, the play that was not stopped in Buffalo Sunday, and various phantom calls, how are we expected to trust in the referees? It’s not as though it’s just a problem in Wings games either. Just ask the Philadelphia Flyers. I hate to complain about the officiating, but to me this is a League-wide quality issue, not a Wings fan-specific gripe.
… I’ve been trying to cut Andreas Lilja some slack lately. I figure there’s a reason he remains in the lineup, despite his more visible blunders. With that change in mindset, I’ve been able to appreciate big #3 more.
On the Blues’ goal, however, I thought his attempt to knock the puck down was a little on the boneheaded side. It turned out to be a perfect redirect. I thought the conventional wisdom was that defensemen leave the puck alone if they can’t outright block it. With Stempniak right there, I can understand what Andreas was trying to do, but it just didn’t turn out so well.
… It wasn’t Brett Lebda that Mike Babcock sat in favor of Jonathan Ericsson last night. It was Derek Meech. I admit it, I was surprised. Meech apparently hit a high point against Edmonton last week, but his play since was still quite good, I thought. I assume Babcock was just demonstrating to Meech that his spot on the roster is not a given. Hopefully it won’t backfire, somewhat like we saw with Quincey.
… Giving Ericsson another game paid off, if only because of a little drop pass that kicked off the cycle leading to Pavel Datsyuk’s first goal. If Nick Lidstrom does return Sunday, however, last night was probably Ericsson’s last game in the Winged Wheel this season as he’ll be returned to Grand Rapids.
… Since I missed the second and third periods, I didn’t see the hit on Tomas Kopecky or the aftermath. It didn’t make the cut on the highlight reel, and neither did the Rafalski throwdown or Downey’s coming off the bench. Too bad. IwoCPO says he’ll have video later.
I’m glad to read that Kopecky’s okay. He looked good in the first period and I assume played a strong game in the second and third, as well.
… I don’t know what he looked like in the second and third, obviously, but you get the feeling that Jiri Hudler is finally going to break out of this horrendous slump. I thought he looked strong in the first.
… Where was Manny Legace’s head on Brian Rafalski’s goal? It just blew by him.
… The Dallas Stars lost at home to the Coyotes last night. That’s two home losses in a row for the second-ranked team in the Conference. Much ballyhooed trade deadline acquisition Brad Richards has zero points in both games since posting five in his debut with the Stars. That’s called being brought back to earth.
The Wings’ two consecutive wins have put them 7 points ahead of Dallas and they retain two games in hand.
Update (1:34 PM): NHL.com’s John McGourty looks at the match-up here.
Rob Shick (16) and Justin St. Pierre (45) will officiate the game. Tim Nowak (77) and Tony Sericolo (84) will man the lines. - Matt
The Detroit Red Wings and the Dallas Stars, the two top teams in the West, meet this afternoon on NBC in the Game of the Week. The Wings won both of the previous meetings, beginning with a 4-1 decision on January 2nd and continuing with a 3-0 shutout on January 5th. The fourth and final meeting will take place on March 13th in Detroit.
The Stars are 7-1-0 in February, with their only loss coming on the 14th in Phoenix. The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak that went back to January and included wins over Vancouver (2x), Edmonton, Calgary, Minnesota, St. Louis, and Phoenix. The night after their loss to the Coyotes, they put down the Ducks in Anaheim, 4-2. They are kicking off a three-game homestand this afternoon.
Dallas leads the Pacific Division with 77 points. Anaheim and San Jose have 71 and 70 respectively. They are ten points behind the Wings for the League lead and are four points ahead of Ottawa for second place overall.
Mike Ribeiro leads the team in assists (43) and points (67), but his 24 goals are tied with Brendan Morrow. Six other Stars have 10 or more goals: Niklas Hagman (20), Mike Modano (16), Jussi Jokinen (14), Antti Miettinen (12), Jeff Halpern (10), and Steve Ott (10).
The Stars will be without Sergei Zubov (groin/foot) and Phillippe Boucher (shoulder).
Mark Fistric (face laceration) is scheduled to play.
The starter has not been announced, but it looks like Marty Turco is a good bet.
For the Stars’ perspective, see Andrew’s Stars Page (preview here), Razor with an Edge (official), Stars Blog (Dallas Morning News), and Stars Scene.
The Wings fell to 3-4-1 in the month of February with their fifth straight loss Friday night. In what was supposed to be a recovery game, they got shellacked at home by the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-1. Rather than gradual improvement, the team’s play has seemingly fallen off more with every game they’ve played lately. As recently as a week ago, they looked like they could pull out a win. With bad losses to Nashville and Columbus, however, this team has never looked less like the dominant force it has been most of the season.
Today’s game kicks off a five-game stretch of road games, though they will return home following tomorrow night’s game in Denver. After that, they don’t play again until Friday in Calgary.
Despite their current nose dive, the Wings still lead the League by ten points. If that’s not a mark of their previous dominance, I don’t know what is. Let’s hope they can recover it soon.
Henrik Zetterberg leads the team in goals with 33, but he has not scored in his last four. Nick Lidstrom is now the team leader in assists with 50, but Pavel Datsyuk is not far behind him with 48.
Jiri Hudler is goalless in 13. Valtteri Filppula is goalless in nine. Those two have to get going.
The Wings will be without Niklas Kronwall (clavicle) for the ninth straight game. Derek Meech will continue to fill in for #55.
Brian Rafalski (groin) is expected to sit out for the second game in a row. If he does, Kyle Quincey will fill in.
Dan Cleary (broken jaw) will miss his third straight. It looks like Aaron Downey will dress again.
Projected lines (via Khan):
Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Filppula-Zetterberg-Samuelsson
Kopecky-Draper-Maltby
Hudler-Drake-Downey
Projected pairings:
Lidstrom-Chelios
Lebda-Lilja
Quincey-Meech
You can expect some mixing there, as Quincey and Meech will probably see time with more experienced defensemen throughout the night.
Jimmy Howard will start today. By the way, today is the first time this season I’ve been disappointed in Chris Osgood. His comment to George Sipple about his record against Dallas was very out of character for him and something I hope does not become a habit.
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.
This is obviously a big game for the Wings, who need a win badly. I would love to see the Wings put on a great performance on national TV and make up for last week’s debacle. Can they do it? Sure. Of course. Will they? I don’t know. At this point, I’m with IwoCPO:
But don’t fret. There’s always Turco.
But that’s not going to be enough. I’m thinking we’re looking at 6.
I hope we’re wrong, because I’m not looking forward to hearing the same people who called the Wings the most dominant team in hockey start hailing their downfall, as if that’s what a losing streak means.
I want to see the Wings pull out of this skid and doing it while backstopped by Jimmy Howard would make for a great story, even though it may create some controversy.
Can they just flip a switch and win like that?
I hope so.
Update (2:14 PM): Mike Smith is in net for Dallas, by the way. - Matt
Update (1:56 PM): To be fair to Marty Turco, I should also point out Dominik Hasek’s record against Dallas: 8-10-1-1. - Matt
Update (12:15 PM): Mark Stepneski has some pre-game comments over at Andrew’s Dallas Stars Page NHL Blog. - Matt
The Wings and the Stars face-off for the second time this season this afternoon. They last met on Wednesday in Detroit in a game the Wings won, 4-1. The remaining two games are scheduled for February 17th and March 13th.
The Stars have dropped three straight and have been outscored 11-4 in that span. The loss to the Wings was just the second of those three, as they were knocked out by the Minnesota Wild, 6-3, the next night. Although they will be playing their third game in four nights, the Stars will be highly motivated to stop this slide, much like the Blues were on December 20th.
Since Wednesday, Dallas has fallen from first in the Pacific and second in the Conference to second in the Division and 4th in the West.
According to Mike Heika, the status of Sergei Zubov (hand) is uncertain. The defenseman has missed the last two games, but practiced yesterday and apparently kept it simple. He’s listed as questionable by the Dallas Morning News, though the notes section there says he’s a game-time decision.
Jussi Jokinen (knee), Jere Lehtinen (hernia), and Phillippe Boucher (shoulder) remain out.
Heika also notes that Dave Tippett switched up the forwards some in practice yesterday in an obvious attempt to generate some more offense.
As for the starting goaltender, that remains a bit of a mystery as Marty Turco has had two rough outings in a row, but saw the most time in practice yesterday. He was pulled after allowing three goals on four shots Thursday night and has beaten the Wings just once in his career. I’d say conventional wisdom would put Mike Smith in net today, but if Tippett wants to force Turco to overcome his demons, we’ll see #35.
For the Dallas side of things, see Andrew’s Stars Page, Razor with an Edge (official), Stars Blog (Dallas Morning News), and Stars Scene.
The Wings have been idle since Wednesday and so are well-rested as they head into this brief road trip. After the game today, they’ll head to Chicago to face the Blackhawks for the fifth time this season. Hopefully they won’t be caught looking ahead to that game when they have a motivated Stars team to deal with first. They’ll be looking to improve their 24-1-1 record against non-Central teams.
It looks like neither of the currently injured players will be returning today. Tomas Holmstrom (knee bruise) hopes to make it back tomorrow, but it seems Mike Babcock has Homer’s return pegged for Tuesday. The same goes for Kirk Maltby (back strain), who isn’t as adamant about wanting to return this weekend.
Dominik Hasek will start this afternoon. Chris Osgood will get the nod tomorrow.
For more of the Wings’ side of things, 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 makes a good point in his latest:
Look for the Wings to return to a more basic game because of the crappy ice.A little more Dump ‘n Chase, very careful line changes (especially in the 2nd).This game could very well be determined by turnovers and takeaways.
The ice is a definite issue, but if turnovers and takeaways become a key feature in the game, the Wings should be in relatively good shape. Pavel Datsyuk is leading the League in takeaways with 64 and he’s more than capable of making something out of them. By the way, Henrik Zetterberg is the highest ranking Red Wing in giveaways at #56 with 30. That doesn’t surprise me, really. Hank can be a bit of a puck hog.
I thought the Wings played a solid game overall Wednesday night, so if they at least pick up where they left off, they’ll be in a good position to come out on top. The Stars will obviously look to elevate their play and they have the skill to make things uncomfortable for Detroit’s defense, but if they don’t catch the Wings napping, I don’t see them coming out of their tailspin just yet. If they can get Zubov back in the lineup and start Smith, they stand a better chance, but it’ll be tough either way if the Wings bring their “A” game.
Of course, we all know what happened last time the Wings faced a highly-motivated team that was looking to stop a losing streak.
Update (11:56 AM): Mark Stepneski of Andrew’s Dallas Stars Page NHL Blog comments briefly on the game here. - Matt
The Wings made to 30 wins fastest in team history last night, setting a pace that is ahead even of the 62-win team. Of course, as Bruce MacLeod points out, if you take away shootout wins, the Wings are behind the 95-96 squad.
However, lets not detract from the team’s accomplishment here. At the halfway point, the Wings look like one of the most dominant teams in the last decade, shootout wins or not. They still have a long way to go and will be hard pressed to match the 62-win squad’s four losses in the second half, but they’re showing few signs of slowing down.
A few thoughts on the game:
… The first period started slowly, but picked up after a big hit by Niklas Kronwall on Loui Eriksson. Unfortunately, it took place off camera and I never saw a replay, but I could tell from the reaction of the crowd (loud cheers, people standing up) that it was a monster. Just nine seconds later, Dan Cleary scored 13th of the year.
From around the time of Cleary’s goal, the game’s tempo was good.
… The Stars “scored” at 5:34 of the second period, but it was immediately waived off. Replays showed that Chris Connor had knocked the puck in with his glove while falling. Nice awareness on the ref’s part there.
… The Wings were looking pretty sloppy for most of the first 7 or so minutes of the period. Their passing was overly cute and, as a result, they didn’t connect as often as they should have. Things turned around after their second goal.
… Aaron Downey had a great shift leading up to the Franzen tally. He took a hit from Mark Fistric along the left wing boards in the Detroit end and seconds later, he notched his first point as a Red Wing with a beautiful pass that found Johan Franzen free a step behind the Stars defense.
Johan made good use of the open ice and deked Marty Turco out of his jockstrap on his way to his 7th goal.
I noticed in this game that, while Turco is a great goalie, he gets deked rather easily.
… You can tell Valtteri Filppula has been paying close attention to Pavel Datsyuk. His puck handling mannerisms are looking more like Pavel’s all the time. He even tried Datsyuk’s patented half-spin-pull-the-puck-between-the-feet-while avoiding-a-hit move (you know what I mean. Must think of a shorter name) at one point during the second period. It wasn’t quite as successful as Pavel generally is, but it was nice to see him try it.
… I love Henrik Zetterberg and have since before he first donned the Winged Wheel. But his tendency to take the puck down the wing and around behind the net drives me nuts. So rarely does that play develop into something worthwhile. I know he doesn’t necessarily have the size, but what I wouldn’t give to see him drive to the net like this!
And yes, I know it was his first game back from an injury, but it’s something he’s done all season.
Aside from that little quibble, I thought he looked stronger as the game went on. He certainly made his linemates better once Mike Babcock started throwing him together with guys like Matt Ellis and Tomas Kopecky.
He made a great pass to Dallas Drake to set up the Wings’ third goal, though Drake benefited more from Turco’s puzzling slowness to get across and close his 5-hole. It was Drake’s first goal in his return to the Wings.
… Chris Osgood was stellar last night. He’s bailed the Wings D out a couple times and earned a chant from the JLA crowd for a diving “save” on a shot that followed an odd bounce off the boards. It was probably going wide, but he recovered nicely from his expectation that he would be able to intercept the shoot-in behind the net.
… About seven and a half minutes into the period, Steve Ott knocked Nick Lidstrom down while the latter was already off balance at center. Seconds later, Dallas Drake stood up for his captain and got Ott to fight. It was a short match and a relatively easy win for Ott, but it reinforced the message the Wings have been broadcasting all season: they aren’t going to stand for shots at their stars.
… Unfortunately, the result of the fight was that the Stars got somewhat rejuvenated. Immediately after the fight, the two teams looked pretty even. As the game neared the halfway mark of the period, however, the Stars began to take over. One shift beginning around 10:00 held the Wings in the zone for a good 50 seconds.
… Despite the Stars’ improved play, however, the Wings took a 4-0 lead at 13:13. Valtteri Filppula carried the puck into the zone and it ended up on Cleary’s stick after Fil’s shot went off the side of the net. Cleary dished it off to Nick Lidstrom at the point while Pavel Datsyuk headed to the net. Lidstrom faked a shot and waited for the crowd in front of the net to clear before shooting toward the left side of the net. Datsyuk got his stick on it out front and it changed direction to the upper right corner.
… At 13:59, the Stars got on the scoreboard and ruined Osgood’s shutout. The play began with an unfortunate turnover by Aaron Downey, who worked hard to make up for it in the subsequent seconds. Unfortunately, he just missed intercepting a pass down low from Fistric, and the Wings were inexplicably caught out of position. The initial shot was blocked and had Osgood well out of the net on the left side, leaving the road open for Eriksson to pick up the puck and score on a wrap-around.
… To their credit, the Stars did not give up as the game wound down. The game remained exciting, if not in doubt, to the end.
… The JLA crowd was louder than usual, I noticed. While that may not be saying much, as it is generally about as loud as a restaurant, they went beyond mere cheering and actually began various chants. The game ended to the sound of “Ozzie! Ozzie!”.
… One general comment: the Wings’ defensive effort was quite strong, I thought. There was nearly always a Red Wings standing ready to clear the puck from the front of the net after Osgood made the save, so that the Stars rarely had an opportunity to follow up a shot.
As pointed out by Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond, their strategy of having one defenseman grind out the puck along the boards while the other stood in the slot worked very well. The guy on the boards would sent the puck out to the slot and the slot man would send it up ice to start the breakout.
… They announced later in the third period that Tomas Kopecky had gone down with a hand injury. His last shift ended at 13:59 (the Dallas goal), but I don’t remember anything in particular that would shed light on how he got hurt. It’s possible that the team will need to call up Mark Hartigan again.
… One more general comment: I thought the Wings did a fair job of taking it to the Stars physically. Kronwall and Lilja had a few big hits, though none of them made the NHL’s Highlight Reel.
… The Wings get a couple days of rest and practice now before they face the Stars again on Saturday for a matinée game. The Stars, on the other hand, will play tonight in Minnesota. Hopefully we can expect a result similar to this one this weekend.
Links
Update (7:33 PM): The liveblog post is up at Abel to Yzerman. - Matt
Update (5:11 PM): Though the Wings’ December 26th win over St. Louis made Mike Babcock the coach of the Western Conference All Stars, the League made it official today.
Dallas head coach Dave Tippett is in a battle with San Jose’s Ron Wilson. If the Stars win tonight and tomorrow in Minnesota, Tippett will get the spot. - Matt
Update (3:34 PM): Red Wings TV has posted a brief video of Kirk Maltby discussing his back strain. - Matt
Update (2:30 PM): George Malik has a pre-game roundup at Snapshots.
Also, the Wings will be honoring Mike Modano, the highest scoring American-born NHLer, tonight (via Snapshots). It’s good that the Wings are making it a point to do that. Compare it with the treatment Modano received in Nashville last year. - Matt
Update (2:20 PM): Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News reports that Sergei Zubov will not play tonight due to a hand injury suffered New Year’s Eve. He’s officially listed as day-to-day and could be back in the lineup for the re-match on Saturday.
Heika points out that, without Zubov, the Dallas defense will consist of “three rookeis [sic] tonight along with Robidas, Daley and Norstrom.”
Ansar Khan writes that Tomas Holmstrom had a”good, hard skate” today for the first time since going down with a knee bruise. There is no set date for his return, though. Expect it to take another week, at least. - Matt
Update (1:08 PM): MacLeod has updated his post to say that Zetterberg has been cleared to play tonight. He’ll start out between Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson, while Pavel Datsyuk will center Dan Cleary and Valtteri Filppula.
Helene St. James reports that Kirk Maltby is hoping to make it back on January 12th at Ottawa.
Also, Mark Stepneski of Andrew’s Dallas Stars Page has posted his thoughts on the game. - Matt
Update (11:00 AM): Bruce MacLeod reports that Henrik Zetterberg’s return is contingent on there being no setbacks during the morning skate today. - Matt
The top two teams in the Western Conference face off for the first time this season tonight at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit won the 2006-2007 season series, 3-1, with wins October 27 (4-3), November 27th (2-1), and February 14th (3-1). Dallas won the March 30th meeting, 4-3 in a shootout. The teams will meet again on Saturday in Dallas and will finish the series with games on February 17th and March 13th.
Dallas posted a 10-4-0 record in December. They had their second four-game winning streak of the month snapped by a 1-0 loss to the Predators on New Year’s Eve. Prior to that, they had beaten the Flames, Canadiens, Wild, and Blues following a 3-2 loss to Vancouver.
The Stars are coming off a four-game homestand and are 11-7-2 on the road.
Mike Ribeiro leads the Stars in goals with 21 and Brendan Morrow is second with 15. Niklas Hagman (14), Mike Modano (12), and Jussi Jokinen (11) also have 10 or more goals.
Defenseman Sergei Zubov leads the team in assists with 30, while Morrow (24) and Ribeiro (22) are the only other Stars to crack the 20 assist plateau. Ribeiro and Morrow lead the team in overall points with 43 and 39, respectively.
It looks like the Stars will be without Jere Lehtinen (abdomen), Jussi Jokinen (knee), and Phillippe Boucher (shoulder).
Marty Turco will likely start tonight for the Stars. He is 15-8-3 this season with a 2.32 GAA and a .911 save-percentage. Turco has never won in Detroit as an NHLer and is 1-8-5 against the Wings in his career.
For the Dallas perspective, see Andrew’s Stars Page, Razor with an Edge (official), Stars Blog (Dallas Morning News), and Stars Scene. (via Japer’s Rink blogroll)
The Wings were 12-2-1 in December. Like the Stars, they finished the month with a shutout loss, with theirs coming at the hands of the St. Louis Blues. That came two nights after an uninspiring 4-2 win over Phoenix in which they were very nearly out-shot.
Tonight’s game is the second of a brief two-game homestand that will be followed by a two-stop road trip this weekend.
Henrik Zetterberg leads the team with 25 goals and Tomas Holmstrom is second with 17. Four more Wings have 10+ goals: Pavel Datsyuk (15), Valtteri Filppula (13), Dan Cleary (12), and Jiri Hudler (10).
Henrik Zetterberg (back) is slated to return tonight after sitting out since suffering back spasms as a result of the December 20th game against the Blues.
Tomas Holmstrom (knee bruise) and Kirk Maltby (back) are both still out.
Mark Hartigan has been sent back to Grand Rapids.
Chris Osgood will 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.
This game will be a good test of the Wings’ resiliency. They are coming off their first shutout loss of the season and a game that followed a weak performance against one of the League’s worst. They’ll be facing one of the League’s best tonight and will have to put out a good effort if they want to come out on top.
They should be bolstered by Chris Osgood’s presence in the net and by the return of Henrik Zetterberg, who will no doubt look to return to the scoreboard as well as the ice.
They cannot afford to get into penalty trouble, as the Stars’ power play is fourth in the NHL, and they cannot rely on their own power play to win, either. Dallas is first in penalty killing at 87.6 percent. If they can win the 5-on-5 game and stay out of penalty trouble, they be in good shape.
Update (2:43 PM): James Gunner at 8 Feet points out that the slumping 8th-place Flames may have a rough go of it this week, with a game against the Wings as well as the Predators, while Colorado has it pretty easy, with two games against the free-falling Edmonton Oilers.
So, the scenario IwoCPO outlined is looking more and more plausible, especially with the Wings’ pretty much powder-puff schedule (with three big exceptions, i.e. a game each with Anaheim, Dallas, and Nashville) to the end of the season.It’s shaping up to be an interesting race for that final spot. - Matt
IwoCPO looks at the standings and proposes that the best first round opponent for the Wings would be the Colorado Avalanche, despite the fact that the Avs are one of the hottest teams in hockey. It’s hard to disagree, because such as series would probably bring out the best in both teams due to the presence of Todd Bertuzzi, and the Wings are their best are a good bit better than the Avs at theirs. So, Iwo hopes the following two things happen:
(1) The Wings need to secure the 1. (b) The Dive need to continue “never seeming to lose anymore.”
I agree. If the Wings are to take 1st place in the Conference, they’ll have to win to do it, which means they’d go into the playoffs hot and not complacent, as they have been in years they’ve had the first seed locked up in March. And if the Avs are going to make it, they don’t have much room at all for losing, as they sit outside the playoffs right now in the 9th spot, four points behind Calgary. Two teams fighting to rise in the standings right to the finish would be a much better matchup than a team already set in a seed just waiting for the other to grab their own.
Now, I don’t like that matchup if the Wings aren’t playing their A-game (in that case, Dallas or Calgary would be better, though still very dangerous), but if both teams are “on,” it would be a great series.
Still, I hate trying to figure out which opponents would be best for the Wings because they’ll all be tough and in every case, the Wings won’t get away with bad play. We can try to propose teams that would seem ideal, but it’s up to the players to elevate their play, not to hope for what seems like an easier matchup.
So all this depends on whether or not they go into the postseason awake. If they end the season lulled into complacency, the question is whether or not they can wake up in time. If not, it won’t matter who they’re playing. But if they actually show up to play, they stand a very good chance, I’m confident of that, even with the more “undesirable” opponents.
