Wings and Flames Attempt to Warm Up Offense; Game Preview

I feel like it's not too often that Detroit plays a team with a longer injury list than them. Unfortunately for Calgary, they'll make the first opponent for the Red Wings of the season to fit this bill.

It has been confirmed that Johan Franzen will play against Calgary -- a much needed boost for a team that has scored 3 goals in it's last 6 periods. Franzen's addition will also allow Mike Babcock a full compliment of forwards for use on the powerplay, though one of our PP quarterbacks on defense, Brian Rafalski will remain sidelined for the next 2 weeks at minimum.

Hot Goalies
Jimmy Howard and Miikka Kiprussoff will most likely be given a chance to build on their stingy stats early in the season. Flames' rookie back-up, Henrik Karlsson is a possibility to start however. Brent Sutter and Karlsson himself are keeping their cards close to their chests, but it seems all but a certainty he will start one of the Flames next two games in Detroit and Columbus.

Zetterberg Warmed Up?
Henrik Zetterberg got a couple of assists in the last game vs. Phoenix. Look for another multi-point game from Hank as a return to form for him will be paramount to the success of the Red Wings, particularly if Franzen, Bertuzzi and Filppula continue to light the lamp.

Stone Cold Attack
This might sound like pointing out the obvious, but I think against a team like Calgary moreso than usual, putting the puck in the net more than 3 times will make it tough for them to get the win. Three times in their first five games the Flames have been shutout in regulation -- an incredibly damning stat for Calgary's forward corps. The fact they've been able to go 3-2-0 despite these offensive woes could be taken as a positive however. Another considerable stat is their shooting percentage. The Flames actually get 35 shots a game on goal but goalie's have a .949SV% on them!