State of Hockey vs. Hockeytown: Say Yah To Da Great Lakes, Eh?

[Eddie_Shack]

Quick update headed into this afternoon’s game between the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild at Joe Louis Arena: Forward Pavel Datsyuk will return after missing seven games because of a lower body injury, general manager Ken Holland said.

But defenseman Niklas Kronwall will miss a second straight game because of an upper body injury. He’s considered day-to-day.

The healthy scratches are Kris Draper, who is up in the rotation between him and Drew Miller, and fellow forward Mike Modano.

This means Westland's Modano will fall just shy of hitting 1,500 NHL games by season’s end. He stands at 1,496, with four games remaining.

Modano had some rough patches in late February after he returned from a devastating wrist injury, but he has made the power play more competitive. No regular forward has been colder the past two months than Johan Franzen, who has one goal his past 23 games, dating to his five-goal explosion Feb. 2 at Ottawa.

The Wings didn’t have a morning skate today because they played Saturday in Nashville, where they rallied from a three-goal deficit to win in overtime, 4-3.

 

[Eddie_Shack]

I went to CBS to get a more balanced game preview for our lone part time Wild fan, but this looks like it's right out of a Detroit paper. Oh well.

/what ever happened to Owric Bodrin and some of the other Minnesota guys?

TIME: 05:00 P.M. EST
VENUE: Joe Louis Arena

In less than 72 hours, the Detroit Red Wings went from being embarrassed by one of their most miserable performances in years to reveling in a stirring comeback victory.

With another win Sunday at home against the Minnesota Wild, the Red Wings have a chance to celebrate again as Central Division champions.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock called a 10-3 loss to St. Louis on Wednesday, "ugly" and "unacceptable." Leading scorer Henrik Zetterberg said the team needed to find itself after being booed off the ice at Joe Louis Arena following its fifth loss in six games.

The Red Wings might have gotten just what they need in Saturday's 4-3 overtime victory in Nashville.

The game against Detroit's closest pursuer in the Central started poorly after Nashville jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first 22:37 on Jimmy Howard, who was making his return from a sore left shoulder.

Justin Abdelkader tied it with the second of his two goals and Danny Cleary tipped in Brian Rafalski's shot 2:58 into the extra period.

"We definitely came out with a lot more urgency and more determination in our game," Cleary said. "We needed that after the last outing. It was rock bottom. Certainly, it was a good step for us. We responded well."

The win gave Detroit (45-23-10) a five-point lead over the Predators and an eight-point advantage over Chicago. It also helped the Red Wings tie a team record with their 20th consecutive playoff berth - the longest active streak among North America's four major professional sports - and add to their NHL mark by reaching 100 points for the 11th consecutive season.

Detroit had its streak of division titles ended by eventual champion Chicago in 2009-10, but can claim its ninth in 10 seasons Sunday. The Red Wings need a victory over the Wild and a Blackhawks loss at home against Tampa Bay later that evening.

Detroit would seem to have a good chance of fulfilling its part of the scenario as it's 16-2-3 in its last 21 games against the Wild (37-33-8) and 7-0-2 in the past nine meetings at Joe Louis.

With Howard's help, the Red Wings have posted consecutive wins in the series but lost their only matchup in Detroit this season, 4-3 in overtime Nov. 19.

Mikko Koivu scoring the tying goal with 1:23 left in regulation in that game, and John Madden tallied the winner. Madden, though, will likely miss Sunday's game with a lower-body injury.

Howard is 5-1-1 with a 2.22 goals-against average in his career against Minnesota and the Wild enter this game having been outscored 44-19 in losing nine of 11.

A 3-1 home loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday officially eliminated them from playoff contention for the third straight season.

"It's always tough," goaltender Niklas Backstrom said. "It's going to be a long time before we have another chance to fight for the Cup."

After getting Howard back, the Red Wings are hoping to see Pavel Datsyuk return from a lower-body injury soon, but Babcock was mum on his status. The forward, who has missed seven straight games, has four goals and four assists in his last seven against the Wild.

 

[esls79]

A blueline for the Wild of Brent Burns, Greg Zanon, Jared Spurgeon, Justin Falk, Clayton Stoner, and Maxim Noreau for today's game ought to have the Red Wings trembling...

 

[esls79]

Oh yeah, I think John Madden and Martin Havlat are on the shelf today as well.

 

[Eddie_Shack]

A blueline for the Wild of Brent Burns, Greg Zanon, Jared Spurgeon, Justin Falk, Clayton Stoner, and Maxim Noreau for today's game ought to have the Red Wings trembling...

Modano was trembling, so they sat him out... turns out he just needed his Centrum Silver.

 

[Automattic]

Havlat can play if he wants....Don't worry Kronwall won't be there....:-p

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

GIFSoup

Let's Go Redwings!​

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

Are we going to have any gas left in the tank after yesterday's effort?

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

GGGOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!

HELM!!!!!!

And it wasn't even on a short-handed breakaway.

 

[Automattic]

3 to 4 dumb calls in a row. Both ways.



Damn Lids has the sweetest (Swedish) looking shot ever!

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

GGGGGGOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!! 2-0 Detroit!!!!

Either Lidstrom's or Datsyuk's goal. Very hard to tell.

 

[sherbert1421]

shitty officiating. what's new?

glad to see the wings up 2-0. the wild wont be able to play the trapfest game

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

shitty officiating. what's new?

Don't sweat it. I think the refs will successfully up their game in the playoffs and take shitty officiating to whole new heights.

 

[sherbert1421]

Don't sweat it. I think the refs will successfully up their game in the playoffs and take shitty officiating to whole new heights.

sweet. can't wait

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

Holmstrom looked like Datsyuk with the nice drag of the puck!

3-1 Detroit.

 

[sherbert1421]

homer looking like datsyuk

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

Two periods in the books. Don't want to say we look like we're just coasting out there, but it looks like we're coasting out there.

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

Third period underway.

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

FRANZENSTEIN!!!!!!!!!

4-1 Detroit. I feel lots better.

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

WHAT THE FUCK, ANOTHER GOD DAMN GOAL CALLED BACK FOR NO GOOD REASON.