Detroit Red Wings GameDay: @ Minnesota

Minnesota finished 7-4-1 in January. Their win over the Wings on the 10th kicked off a three-game streak that ended with a shootout loss to Calgary on the 16th. Two nights later, they dropped a game to the Ducks.

Since then, however, they are 4-1-0, including a revenge win over Anaheim on the 30th. They couldn't get past the Flames on the 22nd, however. They were in Columbus on February 2nd and pulled out a 4-1 win over the Blue Jackets and are now home for their next three.

The Wild are first in the Northwest Division, with a two-point lead over Colorado and a three-point lead over Calgary. As the Division leader, they occupy the third seed in the West, despite having fewer points than the San Jose Sharks.

Minnesota will be without Derek Boogaard (back), Sean Hill (ankle), and Mark Parrish (concussion).

Marian Gaborik leads the Wild with 28 goals and 55 points. Brian Rolston is second in goals scored with 19, while Pierre-Marc Bouchard is second in points with 45, 11 of which are goals.

Three other Minnesota players have scored 10 or more goals: Parrish (13), Eric Belanger (12), and Pavol Demitra (10). Demitra has four assists in his last two games.

It looks as though Niklas Backstrom will be in net tonight for the Wild, though I cannot find actual confirmation on that. It's possible that Jacque Lemaire will instead go with Josh Harding, who had a very strong outing against the Wings in the January 10th game.

For the Wild perspective, see The State of Hockey News (preview here), Wild Puck Banter, In the State of Hockey, and Land of Lakes and Hockey.

The Wings finished January 9-2-1, with their only losses coming to Minnesota, Ottawa, and Atlanta. They have won their last seven games, including three California contests and two sets of back-to-back matches.  They are coming off a hard-fought win over a physical Boston team in a game that came the night after a depleted Colorado squad tried riding over them rough-shod. In both games, the Wings adjusted to the style of play and came out on top.

Detroit sits atop the Central Division, Western Conference and National Hockey League with  40 wins and 84 points, 16 points ahead of the second-place team overall, Ottawa.

The team will be without defenseman Niklas Kronwall (shoulder) for the third game in a row. Rookie Derek Meech will fill in once more.

Henrik Zetterberg leads the team in goals with 31 and tied with Pavel Datsyuk for the points lead with 65. Datsyuk cracked a nine-game goalless streak  with his 18th of the season Saturday in Boston.

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