Red Wings-Stars: Detroit GameDay

Despite their current nose dive, the Wings still lead the League by 10 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 No. 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 uncharacteristic...and something I hope does not become a habit of his. 

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.

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