As a member of the Competition Committee he takes daily ribbing (via. Kukla’s Korner)
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Tonight is the second of four games between these two teams this season. The Wings won the first game 6-3 October 9th, which came at the end of an early road trip for the Flames.
Detroit is 3-1 in their last four games, winning three straight but dropping their most recent game, a 4-1 decision with the Canucks on Sunday. It was the Todd Bertuzzi show, as the big forward scored a hat trick and completely dominated on his home ice. It was the first of a Western Canada road trip for the Wings, a trip that wraps up tomorrow night in Edmonton. The Wings have only lost once on the road this season (Sunday).
The Flames have won 7 straight and have torn up the Northwest Division in the process as five of those games were against divisional opponents. This run follows a bit of a choppy start for the team that made the Cup Finals in 2004. They were 4-7-2 after a loss in overtime to San Jose on October 29 but they’ve turned their season around and now Tom Benjamin is repeating that he thinks they are the team to beat in the West (and joining the Detroit-will-fail herd).
Manny Legace will make the start and look to rebound from Sunday’s game, hopefully with the help of his defense this time. Our friend Miikka Kiprusoff will make the start for the Flames.
Defenseman Jason Woolley could make his return tonight, the papers are reporting, after sitting out 10 games with a groin pull. (Freep)
This Flames team is obviously not going to be as easy a pushover as they were in the first game. The Wings can play with the Flames, it will just be their toughest test so far this season.
More on this later. For now, check out Bob McKenzie
Wings’ fan attendance
In today’s Detroit News, they talk about the one thing that Hockeytown is missing: “the buzz.” While Detroit still remains at the top when it comes to ticket sales, that doesn’t mean everyone is showing up. It seems that season ticket holders are coming to less games especially during the week when one can find at least 20 empty seats a section (in the lower bowl). Some of the season ticket holders who do come, tend to come at the end of the first period, stay for the second, and leave at the beginning of the third. “That’s what happens here, especially on a work night, people come late,” season ticket-holder Steve Liddle of Birmingham said. “People roll in when they want, even if that means missing some of the game. This crowd acts a little more elite, more corporate than the Pistons crowds.”
The Wings organization has been trying to push the sale of single tickets by advertising during the broadcast and offering free t-shirts with ticket sales. “The early month or so of the season is always a challenge because there are so many things going on with sports, school, things like that,” said Lori Shiels, the Wings director of marketing and season ticket sales. “Fans will get back in the swing of things.”
23 of the 30 NHL teams have the same attendance as the 2003-2004 season or have improved. For example, Pittsburgh’s attendance has increased by 31% and Tampa Bay’s by 26%.
Others feel that the lack of “buzz” in Hockeytown is due to bad timing. The Detroit Lions’ suckiness seems to dominate sports radio along with football talk about Michigan State and the University of Michigan’s games. When it comes to broadcast, the ratings aren’t as high on FSN. This year, the games are averaging a 5.3 rating which is about 105,000 households watching the game. In 2003-2004, the average ratings by the end of the season was 6.1. Wings forward Jason Williams isn’t surprised by the lack of buzz in Detroit:
“It’s totally understandable that we’re not on the tip of everybody’s tongue right now. The season just started, and it’s early. It’s one of those things that build, I think. When football ends, and winter really starts, I think people more naturally turn to hockey. The fans have been great in embracing us back. Joe Louis is still a loud and supportive place to play, and we’re grateful for the fans for coming back. It’ll all be fine.”
Toys for Tots campaign
The Red Wings are hosting their annual Toys for Tots collection at three home games: November 19 (vs. St. Louis), November 21 (vs. Nashville), and November 23 (vs. Colorado). Fans are asked to bring an unwrapped and new toy (no stuffed animals) and place them in on of the collection bins at JLA. Those who donate have a chance to win autographed memorobilia by Kris Draper, the Wings’ Toys for Tots spokesman.
Over the Boards
This weeks’ Over the Boards featured Robert Lang. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
Q: One thing you’d change about Joe Louis Arena …
A: Actually, I wouldn’t change a thing. I wouldn’t build a new one. I like old arenas. Keep them as they are. The way they have character, the way they smell, the intimacy of the crowd. This is my kind of arena. You can’t replace that. It’s funny, but I do like the smell.Q: Favorite TV show?
A: I like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “House”. They’re good.
Q: So you’re into the medical dramas …
A: I like them because they’re the type of show you can miss a week and watch it again without missing too much.Q: MTV is supposedly bringing the “Real World” to Royal Oak. Which seven Wings would you nominate to live in the house?
A: I’d go for the maximum on TV — seven Chelis (Chris Chelios). That would be a show.
Babcock’s thoughts on Lidstrom
While head coach Mike Babcock expected Nicklas Lidstrom to be a strong player, he was pleasantly surprised when he arrived in Detroit. “He’s better than I expected,” Babcock said. “He’s beyond talented. Plus, he works so hard. He’s one of the classiest people I’ve met in my life.”
Wings’ Video Coach
The Detroit News has a really interesting piece on the Wings’ video coach, Jay Woodcroft, whose brother is a video coach for the Washington Capitals. It talks about what his job entails, how it’s affected the team’s play, and the fact that the organization has invested $50,000 into the video equipment. “Mike felt real strongly that we need to be on the cutting edge in the video end of things,” Wings general manager Ken Holland said. “So we went out after he got here and spent another $50,000 on video equipment.”
Woolley ready to return
Jason Woolley feels ready to play tomorrow when the Wings take on the Flames tomorrow evening after suffering a groin injury.
“The last three days I haven’t even felt it,” Woolley said. “Yesterday I skated for a good half-hour, really testing it, after the pregame skate, and I can’t feel it, and that’s really what it’s all about. Now it’s just a matter of getting a little more conditioning. It’s been really hard watching all these games. I felt really good when I was in there for the short stint. Things went really well for me on the power play — I just felt like I could see so much out there, and hopefully that continues.”
BehindtheJersey.com
I am very excited to announce that my domain is *finally* up and running. It may not appear to be a whole lot, but I hope to expand its features as time goes on. As of right now, it features my BtJ columns, some writing I’ve done, all my sports articles from my high school paper (including ones on pro sports that you don’t see here), sound bites, and movies. I’ve completed my own media feature and once I upload it, you can view that as well. Please take a look at my website and leave a comment or send me an email with your thoughts. Thanks!
I was unable to watch the game last night so there will be no summary. I am sorry but I think I can speak for Brian and Christy when I say that updates may be a bit sparse in the next week or so, maybe longer, as the semester winds down and long-term assignment due-dates come up. I just had too much to do last night and couldn’t justify spending 3 hours watching the game. Given the result, I don’t know that I regret it too much.
Since we don’t have any summary, here are some links:
Highlights (via. NHL.com)
Free Press and Detroit News
VanCanOpEd’s take on the game
The Canucks dealt the Wings their first loss of the season and now they’ve handed them their first road loss. The Wings have the opportunity to even up the season series with the two remaining games but I would not want to face Vancouver in the playoffs right now.
Update (7:48 PM ET): Canucks fan hoopsjunky has some notes on the game here.
Tonight is the second of four meetings between these two teams this season. The Canucks were the first team to beat the Wings this year, winning 4-2 on October 10th at the Joe.
The Wings are unbeaten in their last 3, with wins over St. Louis, LA and Minnesota. They have gone 12-1-1 since losing to the Canucks on the 10th and will have their first chance at revenge tonight. Detroit is unbeaten in their last three games, a span in which they have beaten St. Louis, LA and, most recently, Minnesota. Their win over the Wild on Friday night was one of their most impressive defensive displays all season and indicates they should be on the right track for facing better opponents. The Wings are unbeaten on the road this season and have won 10 in a row away from home, dating back to the last three games of the 03-04 season. It’s a franchise record and is worth a lot for a team hoping to go the distance when it counts: the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Canucks’ win over the Wings on the 10th kicked off a 7-1 run that vaulted the team to the upper reaches of the league. More recently, however, they have gone 2-4-1, winning just a game against the Wild and Blue Jackets and losing to the Avs and Flames, who have made up 5 of their last 7 games. Vancouver has lost their last three but are 7-1-0 at home. That one loss, however, came in their most recent game, a 5-3 decision with the Avs.
Manny Legace will be in net for the Wings and Dan Cloutier should be for the Canucks.
Expect a good game tonight. The Wings have the momentum but the Canucks, coming off a loss to a division rival, will be looking to derail someone and another win over Detroit would be just the thing they need to get back on track. If the Wings play as tight defensively as they did Friday night and as opportunistically offensively, they should do well. Manny Legace will have to be on his “A” game against a strong Canucks offense and that may be the key. The Wings failed this test last time and need to make a better showing this round or else those wins against lesser teams really are just padding.
The Wings played a workmanlike game tonight and notched their 8th home win, beating Minnesota 3-1. It wasn’t a terribly exciting game and long stretches of time were spend playing pretty uneventful hockey. Still, I’m not complaining because Detroit put on one of their best defensive performances of the year and the fact that there wasn’t much excitement isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Manny Legace made the start for the Wings and looked sharper than he did Wednesday, though he only faced 17 shots. Manny Fernandez was in net for the Wild and was the sole reason the score was not much more lopsided. He was very good tonight and faced 37 shots, a number of which were of high quality.
First Period
The Wings’ came out of the gates flying, with Draper’s line creating some solid pressure in the Wild end for the entire first shift. This pressure only stopped when the whistle blew for an incidental offsides. Things evened out for the next few minutes, with a lot of up and down play until the Wild gained control at about the 4:30 mark. The pace was quick and both teams were skating hard.
Johan Franzen had a great chance on the far side at about 7:00, a backhand shot, but Fernandez made the save.
The Wild got the first power play of the game at 9:48. Draper had a nice shorthanded chance 20 seconds in, but Fernandez made the save and was forced to freeze the puck by Maltby, who got right in his face. The Wild had some good chances in the rest of the power play but Manny was sharp and made the necessary saves.
Around 13:00, Lang’s line generated some solid pressure. Lang himself got off a great shot in close on Fernandez and his rebound went right to Williams but he couldn’t get a handle on it. Fernandez was very good here. Despite instances such as this, there were not many quality scoring chances for either team, though there was a good pace, as previously stated.
The Wings got a power play of their own at 16:53. They got a good initial setup but fumbled the puck on the blue line not long after that and had to regroup. After a shot from the point, there was a flurry down low that resulted in a frozen puck and a scrum after the whistle. Holmstrom and Koivu were called for roughing and went the box. It remained 5-on-4, though, and the Wings continued their attempts to score. They got some pressure as the penalty expired but did not get the puck in the net.
The period pretty much just wound down after that. Shots were 11-6 Wings.
Second Period
Brendan Shanahan had a near-breakaway chance 20 seconds into the period but Nick Schultz made a great defensive play and knocked the puck off Shanny’s stick from behind, without getting a penalty.
The Wings went back on the power play at 1:07 but didn’t get much going. Mickey Redmond’s word was “fractured” and I found it to be fairly apt. Definitely not the kind of power play you want from the league’s most potent team with the man-advantage.
After the power play, the teams traded chances that started out pretty weak but got progressively better until Shanahan finally opened the scoring for the night at 7:28. His line had generated some serious pressure for their shift and it finally paid off after Shanahan knocked in the rebound from Fischer’s point-shot. He banked it off Fernandez through a crowd and got his 10th of the season. 1-0 Wings.
Not long after that, the Wings got another power play, when Steve Yzerman was dumped while taking the puck in on a rush. This time, they did a beautiful job of cycling the puck and generated some serious pressure, which resulted in their second goal. This time it came from Jason Williams, who has to be the best bang-for-the-buck in hockey with his league-minimum salary. Zetterberg, on the far side of the net, sent the puck across to Williams, who was wide open down low and had all day to pick a spot. He put it right in the top right corner with a perfect shot and put the Wings ahead by two. A beautiful goal.
The Wings really came at the Wild after that goal and generated pressure on the next two shifts. They did give up a near-breakaway at about 12:30 but Datsyuk made a great defensive play and picked Matt Foy’s pocket as he broke in on Legace. This play was just one example of many solid defensive plays the Wings made all over the ice. Another example came not long after, this time from Jiri Fischer on Koivu, who had picked up a loose puck low in the Wings’ zone. Jiri used his long reach to poke it off Koivu’s stick and saved Manny from having to make a tough save.
Williams got called for hooking at 14:30 but the Wings had more control of the puck than the Wild did on the ensuing Minnesota power play. Franzen and Cleary wrecked some havoc in the Wild zone and came close to scoring again. Those two look to be a great penalty killing pair, like Maltby and Draper. The next generation.
Both teams had chances in the final minutes of the period but neither put the puck in the net and score remained 2-0 Wings. Shots were 20-4 Wings (that’s not a typo).
Third Period
I missed the first 6-7 minutes of the period due to a conversation with a friend who stopped by the lounge but no goals were scored in that span so I don’t know that I missed much.
The Wild got on the board at 8:26, a a power play goal scored by Randy Robitaille. Daigle and Burns were along the end boards fighting for the puck and it was sent suddenly up ice a few feet to Robitaille, who sent it between Manny’s legs before the Wings goalie had a chance to get set at the post. Not a great goal for the Wings’ defense to give up. 2-1 Wings.
The Wild were charged by their goal and came back with some great chances by Rolston in particular. They seemed to be a different team for a while after that and looked to be back in it.
Johan Franzen put a damper on the Wild’s hopes at 11:42, though, when he scored his fourth of the season. The play could hardly have been drawn up better. Chris Chelios started it out way back in the Wings’ zone and sent it to Maltby, who got it to Samuelsson. Mikael got a shot off from the far side about 50 feet out and Fernandez made the kick save. However, he kicked the puck right to Franzen and put himself way out of position. He tried to cover the net but Franzen had plenty of open space to choose from and he scored to make it 3-1 Wings.
Detroit played very tight defensively for the rest of the period, being quick to close on Wild players who had offensive opportunities and really stifling any attempt at a comeback. They also generated their own offensive pressure and played defense by having a good offense. The period wound down without any real concerns for a surprise from Minnesota and the Wings got their 15th win of the season.
Shots in the period were 7-6 Wings, which should give you an idea of how tightly fought the defensive battle was. The Wild were good defensively as well, it wasn’t just the Wings.
Notes
Pavel Datsyuk is on pace to score over 100 points this season. If he does so, he will be the first Red Wing to do it since another Russian got 107 points in 95-96 (which, incidentally, is the season [too] many people think could this season has the potential to measure up to). Who was that Russian? Sergei Fedorov. … Jason Williams isn’t a bad power play quarterback but he does seem to have trouble keeping the puck in the zone, especially along the boards, if he’s the receiver of a hot pass. I remember Larry Murphy used to be pretty darn good at that. Oh well. … Manny notched his 9th straight win tonight, increasing his season total to 11 … Williams played in ahiscareer-high 18th straight game …
Mike Babcock shouldn’t have too much to complain about after a win like that. The Wings played a good game and seem to be on the right track in terms of getting their problems fixed. Their game on Sunday against the Canucks will be an even tougher test, despite Vancouver’s current slide. They should be ready, though, after tonight.
Tonight is the first of four games between the Wings and the Wild this season. Detroit won the 2003-2004 season series at 2-0-2. In their last meeting on March 29, 2004, the Wings won 5-3. Ex-Wing Ray Whitney had two assists, and Brendan Shanahan had a goal and an assist.
The Wings are on a two-game win streak, and are 8-2 in their last ten games. The Wings lead the Central Divison and NHL with 29 points. Nashville trails in the division with 23 points, while Montreal comes closest league-wide at 26 points. In their last game, the Wings beat the Kings 5-4 (OT), with Robert Lang scoring the winner less than two minutes into overtime. Manny Legace had 37 saves on 41 shots, but was noticeably shaky in the third period, allowing three fairly weak goals. But since it was his first game back after missing three with a sprained knee, it was an ok return. Tomas Holmstrom has seven goals in his last four games, for a season total of 8 goals. His career best is 20 goals in 2002-2003. Other Wings on a tear include Pavel Datsyuk (17 points in 10 games, a point in each), Jason Williams (19 points in 17 games with his league minimum salary), Henrik Zetterberg (18 points in 17 games), and Brendan Shanahan (16 points in 17 games). Manny Legace will likely get the start for the Wings.
The Wild are struggling at 4-5-1 in their last ten games. In their last game, the Wild lost 4-2 to the Phoenix Coyotes. The Wild outshot the Coyotes 28-18, but the story was Roloson struggling. He allowed three goals on only seven shots in the first 13 minutes of the first, before getting pulled for Fernandez. The Wild were unable to recover, and were hurt by only going 1-7 on the man advantage. On the season, the Wild are 19.3% on the PP (12th in NHL). I would expect Fernandez to get the start tonight after Roloson’s bad outing last game.
An interesting note on the special teams matchup. The Wings lead the league on the power play at 25.2%, but are 1/16 over their last three games. The Wild lead the league on the penalty kill, boasting a 92.1% efficiency, allowing only one goal in their last 20 short-handed situations. To further put the odds against the Wings scoring on the power play, Minnesota has only given up four power play goals in 48 chances while on the road. The Wings are 7-2-1 at home, while the Wild are 3-4-2 on the road. So the Wilds’ great penalty kill on the road hasn’t translated to as many wins as you’d think. The Wings lead the league in scoring with 68 goals for, and the Wild only have 47 goals for through 17 games.
The Wings got back on track at the Joe tonight, after dropping games to Edmonton and Phoenix in their last two home games. It wasn’t a pretty win, however. They didn’t do a very good job of protecting their leads and let the Kings stay in it all the way to the end.
Tomas Holmstrom continued his scoring tear and Manny Legace made his return to the net. He looked somewhat shaky and didn’t inspire a lot of confidence but that’s to be expected, coming off an injury like that.
First Period
Brendan Shanahan, Jason Williams, Robert Lang, Jiri Fischer and Mathieu Schneider started the game for the Wings. Babcock’s second line was Dan Cleary, Kris Draper, and Steve Yzerman, a variation on the new yet-to-be-renamed Grind Line. Kirk Maltby ended up playing with Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson. A little bit of line mixing by the Wings’ new coach. It seemed to work out alright.
The Kings got a couple close-in chances a couple minutes in but Manny kept the puck out of the net, though he looked a little sloppy doing it.
At 2:58, Schneider went to the box for hooking. The Kings set up quickly and soon opened the evening’s scoring when Mike Cammalleri made it 1-0 Kings. It was a good shot by the young player, who used Chris Chelios as a screen and so caught Manny by surprise.
About a minute later, Sean Avery had a glorious scoring chance when he took a pass off a 2-on-1 but Legace the save at the far post. Avery headed back to the bench shaking his head, knowing he should have scored. FSN showed a graphic not long after that chance showing the shot differential in the period to that point: 6-0 Kings. LA was noticeably quicker and had the Wings playing catch up all over the ice.
At 6:15, the Wings went on the power play but got very little going and the Kings killed it off easily. Immediately after it expired, however, a nice effort by Dan Cleary at the blue line on the far side got the puck in the offensive zone once again. It ended up on Schneider’s stick at the near boards. He centered it to Steve Yzerman, who was just coming off the bench and was skating between the circles. Yzerman redirected the pass into the net and got his first goal of the season, tying the game at one.
At 10:58, Datsyuk had a great chance all alone in front but he was hooked on the play and sent the puck wide. The Wings went on the power play as a result and though they got a couple good set-ups, they were unable to convert. As the power play expired, Holmstrom was called for hooking and the Kings went on their own power play. The Wings killed it off easily.
At 18:07, Sean Avery got the jump on the Wings defense and nearly had a full breakaway on Legace. Lebda stuck with him, however, and though Avery got off a good shot, he was probably thrown off by the Wings defenseman on his back. Lebda was called for holding on the play, however, and the Wings went on the penalty kill once again.
The Kings had some good chances on this power play, including one where Jeremy Roenick cut across the net and just couldn’t finish, but they were unable to get the puck past Legace before the period ended.
Shots were 16-11 Kings.
Second Period
The Kings started the period on the power play but it was too short to do much. The early stage of the period was just back-and-forth play, though Franzen’s line had good pressure leading up to the 4-minute mark.
At 5:01, the Kings got a full-blown 3-on-1 chance that resulted in another Legace save. Sean Avery, on the near side boards, sent the puck to Dustin Brown, on the far side, who instead of sending it back to the middle, took a shot. Not very well executed, really, but I’m not complaining.
About four minutes later, Mike Cammalleri had another great chance on Legace but this time he did not convert, as Manny made the save with his right pad. This came at the end of some solid Kings pressure.
The Wings controlled things after that past mid-period, with chances from players such as Lang, who got a shot off within 5 feet of LaBarbera but had nowhere to put the puck.
The Wings went back on the penalty kill at 11:24. Not long afterwards, they scored short-handed and made it 2-1. Johan Franzen had the puck in the Kings zone and dished it off to Cleary at the near boards. He then skated to the net and received a great centering pass from Cleary as he got there. He redirected this pass into the net and the Wings took the lead at 12:34. The Kings, who were still on the power play, got a penalty of their own a little over a minute later and the teams went to four aside for 20 seconds or so. When they went on the power play, the Wings got a good setup going and were cycling the puck nicely until Schneider flubbed a pass at the blue line and it was cleared. They didn’t get anything going after that and it was killed off by LA.
Detroit followed their power play up with some more pressure and it resulted in another LA penalty at 15:27. They got a good initial set up and fired off some shots but Robert Lang took a penalty at 16:54 and their power play was cut short. Both the ensuing stretch of 4-on-4 play and the following Kings power play were relatively uneventful, though Craig Conroy had a good chance immediately following the LA man-advantage, which was followed in turn by a good cross-net chance by Henrik Zetterberg.
Shots were 13-12 Kings.
Third Period
The Wings came out for the third period and scored immediately (:16). It was a very strange goal, to be sure. Holmstrom got a hold of the puck, which was bouncing behind the net close to the far post and knocked it in LaBarbera’s direction. The Kings goalie fumbled the puck and it ended up just barely going over the line. He tried to pull it out but by then the red light was on and the Wings’ goal horn was blaring. 3-1 Wings.
Draper was called for hooking at 1:49 and the Wings killed off the ensuing Kings power play. However, the Kings came within one not long after, with a goal by Roenick. He had all kinds of room to take a shot from the point and it sailed past Legace, without being tipped, to make it 3-2 at 4:15.
At 5:12, Robert Lang nearly had his head taken off by Brown, who laid a very good hit on him just inside the blue line. Lang had his head down and is lucky he didn’t get a concussion on the play. It won Hit of the Game, needless to say.
The Wings again controlled play near mid-period. Jason Williams sent the puck to a streaking Brendan Shanahan at about 9:33 but the puck was bouncing too much for Shanny to get a handle on it and he missed it at the blue line. It would have been a great scoring chance but it was not to be, apparently.
The next few minutes is describe as “stalemated” in my notes.
Then, at 13:19, Holmstrom scored his second of the night in rather sudden fashion. He had given the puck to Datsyuk at the near boards and then headed to the net. Pavel sent him the obvious centering pass and Homer promptly redirected it into the net to put the Wings ahead 4-2.
Almost immediately after the Holmstrom goal, the Kings answered. Pavol Demitra, who had been almost invisible the whole night, took a shot off the near wing and Manny’s rebound went right to Conroy, who flipped it over the Wings goalie, who was frozen and over committed by then, and into the net to make it 4-3 at 13:44.
The Wings generated some good pressure with their Williams-Lang-Shanahan line in the following minute or so but they still ended up allowing another Kings goal. I didn’t see all of the play develop (caught me looking down at my notes again) but I did see Legace over-commit on a poke-check attempt and put himself way out of position. That made it easy for Frolov to tie it up at 16:12.
The rest of the period was played fairly conservatively by both teams.
The Wings had a bit of a chance brewing as the clock was winding down but Yzerman went offsides with 2.6 seconds left and there was a faceoff that was purely ceremonial.
Shots were 14-12 Wings.
Overtime
The extra period was mostly controlled by the Wings. Their first unit, which included Zetterberg and Datsyuk, had a couple great chances but couldn’t score.
Lang ended it less than two minutes into it, however, knocking in a rebound from Lilja’s close-in shot. Lidstrom’s point blast had gone off the backboards and bounced to Lilja next to the net and his shot rebounded to Lang who had an easy time of it putting it into the far side of the net. Wings win 5-4 and escape the shoot-out once again.
Shots in OT were 2-0 Wings and for the game, 41-39 Kings.
Notes
… Ken Daniels had a very funny interview with Jeremy Roenick before the game. It included the Quote of the Game: “I hear you’re quite the metrosexual, by the way.” (Daniels to Roenick) JR responded by putting his arm around Daniels (who suddenly looked very uncomfortable) and gave some excuse about his wife wanting to counter his tough-guy hockey player persona. JR kept his arm around Daniels for the rest of the interview, prompting Ken to ask himself where he was going with that line of questioning (I dunno, Ken, where were you going? Pretty random). At the end, Ken returned the favor by putting his arm around JR and the last thing we saw before the screen switched as JR patting Daniels on the face. I found it pretty hilarious and I would love to have a video of it. Definitely not your typical hockey player interview. … The Wings have outscored their opponents 25-9 in the first period so far this season … They have beaten the Kings 8 straight times now … Brett Lebda did play after all and didn’t make any glaring mistakes so I’d say it was a successful night … With his assist on Holmstrom’s second goal, Datsyuk extended his point streak to 10 games. He has 17 points over that stretch … Holmstrom is on fire. He has 7 goals in the last four games … Johan Franzen seems to like scoring on LA: he had the game winner versus the Kings on the 13th of October … I don’t know if Sean Avery is really that good but he seems to at least step it up against his old club. His name was said time and time again by Daniels tonight and he seemed to be in on practically every Kings offensive chance (I exaggerate but it seemed an inordinate number for a “thug”) … Today was Ken Holland’s birthday. Happy 50th to the best GM in hockey! … Both teams gave up the most shots either has allowed all season tonight … Two of JR’s four regulation goals have come against the Wings this season …
The Wings did a passable job of keeping up with a fast-skating LA team tonight. They were able to take advantage of superior offensive ability to pull off the win but they will need to be better defensively if they want to keep up their winning ways. The Wild will not be an easy game on Friday night. Babcock will have a lot to say about their performance tonight, I’m sure.
Tonight is the second of four games between the Wings and the Kings this season. Detroit won the first game 5-2 on 13. October and kicked off a nine-game win-streak that ended just last week. Brendan Shanahan, Kirk Maltby, Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg, and Jiri Fischer scored for the Wings that night.
The Wings had their nine-game win streak snapped by the Oilers last week and they went on to lose to the Coyotes on Saturday, 4-1. They rebounded against the worst team in the league on Sunday, however, beating the Blues 4-1. They remain undefeated (8-0) against Central Division opponents, having played them all except Nashville. They now kick of a tough 12-game run against Western Conference opponents that includes two three-game West Coast road trips. The Wings know this stretch of games is important and that it will be a good test for them, given the skepticism apparent around the league about their strength-of-schedule to this point. (News)
Before the Wings beat them, LA had won three in a row. They continued that trend after the Wings left LA and won another three before losing to Calgary on the 23rd. Since then, they have gone 4-2 and risen to the top of the Pacific Division, with a one point lead over Dallas, who they beat 6-3 on the 2nd. They then lost to Phoenix 4-0 last Thursday but they rebounded with a 3-2 overtime win at home against the Predators Saturday. Tonight’s game kicks off a four-game road trip against Central Division opponents before a two-game homestand against the Canucks and Avs. UPDATE: TSN’s preview for the game provides a better look at the Kings’ fast start.
The papers are reporting that Manny Legace will be back in the lineup tonight and that there is a good chance he will also be on the ice. The News reports that he has recovered from his groin injury, which I can only assume is a typo because Manny has been out due to a sprained knee, which the Freep says is 95% healed. To make room on the roster for Legace’s return, the Wings sent Jimmy Howard back down to Grand Rapids.
While Manny Legace may not have a groin injury, Jason Woolley certainly does. He has been placed on the injured reserve list and Brett Lebda has been brought up from the AHL to fill his spot. Because the Wings just sent down Howard (opening a spot in the roster for Lebda), they did not need to put Woolley on the IR but the Freep reports Holland just wants the paperwork done in case another situation arises and they need another spot for a call-up. Though Lebda gives the Wings 7 healthy defensemen, Babcock would not commit to playing him tonight, telling the Freep, “I think so, at this point. At this time, he’s not.”
Former Red Wing Luc Robitaille will not be in the lineup for LA tonight. He has a broken leg and will miss two months.
The Wings handled the Kings pretty easily the first time around but tonight will be a little different. The Wings’ last two losses exposed some weaknesses that were easily ignored against lesser opponents and though they won on Sunday, tonight will be a good indication of whether those issues have been addressed. The Blues have been a good test in the past but they aren’t any more, not at the moment, anyway. The Kings will be a bit tougher so hopefully the Wings are ready.
