Detroit Red Wings GameDay: @ Minnesota

Update (4:35 PM): Bruce MacLeod confirms the Red Wings' lines and pairings listed below. He also provides probable forward and defensive units for Minnesota:

Fedoruk-Demitra-Gaborik
Rolston-Belanger-Bouchard
Veilleux-Koivu-Radivojevic
Voros-Sheppard-Parrish

Schultz-Burns
Johnsson-Skoula
Carney-Foster

In a separate post, he has an update on Niklas Kronwall. Nothing new, really—although Mike Babcock told MacLeod,

"Every time you interview Kronner, he's going to tell you how good he feels. This is going to be longer than he thinks."

Also, be sure to check out the official Wild preview on the team website.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: the Wings ought to have someone writing unique game previews like that rather than rely on AP cookie-cutter previews like this one, which you can find here, here and here among other places. - Matt

Update (1:02 PM): The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune's Michael Russo reports that Niklas Backstrom will start tonight. He should be back up by Nolan Schafer, who will cover for a sick Josh Harding.

He says, "Looks to me from watching Detroit skate that Dominik Hasek is in net, but not positive."

Russo also confirms that Mark Parrish will be out. Matt Foy will dress instead.

Lastly, he notes that Jacque Lemaire made the skate optional today, strictly to see who would opt out. As he points out, the fact that everyone but Parrish, Boogaard and Harding participated in the skate should indicate how seriously the Wild are taking this game. - Matt

The Detroit Red Wings and the Minnesota Wild face off for the fourth time this season tonight in the State of Hockey. The puck drops at 8:00 ET.

The Wings lead the series 2-1-1, with wins December 7th (5-0) and December 22nd (4-1). Minnesota took the January 10th contest, 6-5 in a shootout at Joe Louis Arena.

Gord Dwyer (39) and Steve Kozari (40) will officiate the game tonight. Mike Cvik (88) and Mark Pare (79) will be the linesmen.

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