Red Wings-Blues: Detroit GameDay

Tonight marks the fourth of eight games between the Red Wings and Blues this season.

The Blues lead the series 2-1, with wins November 13th (4-3) and December 20th (3-2).  The Wings won the November 21st meeting 3-0.

The teams will face off once more this month (the 31st) before wrapping things up with three games in March (5th, 25th, 28th).

The puck drops at 8:30 ET tonight. 

 

The 18-12-3 Blues are 1-0-1 since beating the Wings last week. They played two games in two nights, beginning with Boston on the road and finishing with Atlanta at home on the 23rd.

They beat the Bruins 4-1 in a game that was evidently closer than the score indicates. The Blues media hyped the game as evidence that the team can shut down two types of opponents: the highly-skilled and the physical, grinding type.

The next night, however, they couldn’t hold down Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa, as they blew a third period lead en route to losing 3-2 just 19 seconds into overtime. It was something of a humbling experience for the Blues, but they remained positive going into the Christmas break.

Barret Jackman scored the Blues’ first goal Sunday, but is already off pace to best his career high of four goals in a season. Brad Boyes scored his team-leading 21st goal in Boston, and Keith Tkachuk got his ninth the next night.

The Blues have no injuries listed.

Manny Legace should be in net for the Blues again.

For the Blues’ perspective, see Note Speak, St. Louis Game Time, The Hockey Chick, and The Checking Line.

 

The Wings won their only game since losing to the Blues, a 4-1 decision over the Minnesota Wild. 

Unlike the Blues’ win over Boston, the score in the Wings’ win in Minnesota indicates a closer game than it actually was. The Wild were out-shot 51-19 and were only in the game at all because of their young goaltender, Niklas Backstrom.

Without Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg, the Wings’ secondary scorers stepped it up—Johan Franzen, Dan Cleary, and Tomas Kopecky all added goals to Pavel Datsyuk’s first-period tally.

While not the Wings’ best performance of the season, it was a good rebound from their loss to the Blues two nights earlier.

There are four 10-or-more goal scorers on the team: Henrik Zetterberg (25), Tomas Holmstrom (17), Pavel Datsyuk (14), and Dan Cleary (12). Valtteri Filppula (nine) and Jiri Hudler (eight) aren’t far behind, and tonight is as good a time as any for one of them to crack the 10-goal barrier.

George Sipple reports that neither Henrik Zetterberg (back spasms) nor Tomas Holmstrom (knee bruise) will return to the lineup tonight. I’m okay with that.  Given the fact that they both came out of the last Blues game hurt, it’s smart of the Wings to keep them out of this one—even if they're well enough to play.

Mark Hartigan has been recalled from Grand Rapids and will fill in tonight with Aaron Downey. Kirk Maltby (back) remains out.

According to the Wings’ goalie rotation policy, Chris Osgood would be the starter tonight. However, because it's the first game of a back-to-back, expect to see Dominik Hasek in net.

If you’re wondering why, remember that the team prefers Dom to undergo a full pregame regimen in order to ensure he stays healthy—and that’s just not possible the second day of a back-to-back, when the morning skate is optional.

Osgood should be the starter tomorrow in Colorado.

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.

HockeyTownTodd himself has a look at the game here.

 

The last time these teams met, the Wings were tired and facing a highly-motivated Blues squad.

This time, they’re rested, but missing two key offensive key players.

It’s going to be interesting to see whether the Wings can stand up to the Blues’ physicality and establish offensive dominance. They were able to dominate against a less physical Minnesota team on Saturday, so they should be able to do it against the Blues with fresh legs.

(via On the Wings)