The West Coast Trip Begins; Red Wings vs. Sharks

After successfully defending the #1 spot in the Western Conference with a sweep of the home-and-home with Columbus, Detroit heads west for a short tour of California starting with the team that eliminated the Wings from the 2010 playoffs, the San Jose Sharks.

The HP Pavilion was a happy hunting ground for the Red Wings this past regular season but in May, when it really mattered, it was a source of frustration and heartache. I told myself not to comment on the officiating that occurred during that series, but I just wanted to acknowledge it. Yep, I remember. The Wings lost 3 tight games, they could've won which ultimately lead to the series defeat 4 games to 1.

The same Red Wings outfit that knocked off the Jackets 4-2 have made the trip to NorCal, along with a couple extras -- Kris Draper and Chris Osgood. No word has arisen yet on their availability for tonight's game, however it has been confirmed Draper will play in one of these games in CA, and Osgood is a good chance to do the same. Ozzy might even dress as Howard's back-up, however Mike Babcock has stated that Jimmy Howard will not start the game in LA, the second of back-to backs, if Osgood is good to go by then he'll make the start.

The mighty Sharks that ousted the Wings in 5 have had a tougher go if it so far in the 2010/11 season. The team underwent some changes in the off-season and so far the adjustment could've been better, going 11-7-4 and winning just two of their last 6 games.

The biggest change for the Sharks is in net, as Todd McClellan is now working with two new goalies Antero Niittymaki and Chicago's Cup-winning starter, Antti Niemi. Niittymaki's start to the season has been decidedly better than his coutryman's, seemingly winning the starting role for now. He's far from a star goalie however, and Detroit could really take advantage of this. Nitty's no Mason, and if the Wings play the Sharks as well as they did Columbus, they'll surely give Howard a fair bit to work with.

Special teams is a bit of a wash between these two teams. The Sharks wins have fallen, mainly it seems, due to their 5-on-5 play. Special teams are still very strong as one would expect with a roster such as theirs.

Other previews:
On the Wings
Wingin' It In Motown
Nightmare on Helm Street

Howard Lifts Wings to Complete Sweep of Blue Jackets

It was a very solid 4-2 victory with input from all lines and good defensive accountability. The Jackets held a lead midway through the game on the back of a last minute goal from a Derek Brassard tip. It seemed goals would again be hard to come by with Chris Mason dominant up until that point. It must suck to be a goalie against the Wings though, as Nik Kronwall banged away and finally found the net followed by Darren helm taking advantage of a broken play just 14 seconds later to give Detroit the lead. Filppula added a very valuable goal to start the 3rd period but the biggest victory of the night came during a 4-minute period in which Detroit killed off two minutes of 5-on4 and two minutes of 5-on-3 PP time for the Blue Jackets with very little difficulty. That set up the win from there as Detroit moved to 15 wins on the season.

I don't normally make a habit of criticizing other teams, but Columbus will never be a serious threat to contenders with a powerplay like that. Howard had a good game and the PK from Detroit was solid yes, but it wasn't invincible and Columbus was just completely inept with the man-advantage almost all game. Even the late goal was borne of a pretty weak 72 secs of powerplay time. The way the played the 4 minute and most importantly, the full two minutes of 5-on-3 powerplay time was just disgraceful. They took long shots for easy blocks, they made in lanes that weren't open and barely made the Wings chase at all with poor cycling. I'm sorry, but I just had to get that out of my system. Arniel, you gotta fix this ASAP.

Anyway, this is a Red Wings blog so back to them...

It was another game with limited offensive input from Detroit's top scorers. Zetterberg and Lidstrom held pointless however Datsyuk got two assists, with one being on Cleary's EN goal with under a minute left. And this is the difference between this season and last. This is probably a game Detroit would've lost about 12 months ago, when they didn't have the depth they do now. Val Filppula had another two-point night with his second straight GWG and Franzen got a couple of assists. Mike Babcock is usually able to rely on at least one of the bottom three lines to step up if the top line is struggling.

To be fair though, "struggling" wouldn't describe the top line's performance tonight. Zetterberg and Datsyuk were dynamic on several instances and I think they (particularly Z) were very unlucky to not hook-up for some scoring of their own. Hank created several chances but it wasn't meant to be for him, as Mason was up to the task and made things tough for the Wings' forwards.

I mentioned in the preview that I thought this was a very important game to win.

The victory gives the Wings a 4 point lead in the Central (and Western Conference) over Columbus with a game in hand. This gap will definitely come in handy as Detroit heads to San Jose tomorrow to finish off November and head into a 16-game December.

Game Two; Jackets Seeking Revenge in Detroit

Detroit and Columbus will complete the Michigan-Ohio weekend with a matinee affair that frankly, I'm a little worried about.

Detroit was a greatly improved team on Friday, after getting thrashed [pun intended] a few nights before. It was undoubtedly a better defensive effort, however not without its faults. Fact is, Jimmy needed to be outstanding to take the victory. That was mainly because his opponent Steve Mason, was just as prolific as the two young goalies combined for 64 saves with only 3 goals allowed.

Whether or not those two men will start the second game of the home-and-home remains to be seen. For Detroit, Howard has played a lot of games of late and could definitely use a break with a hectic December right around the corner. For the Jackets, while Steve Mason's thrid-star performance was encouraging, back-up netminder Mathieu Garon has had the best start to a season in his career and could help Scott Arniel solve the Red Wings and get back within striking distance of top spot in the Western Conference.

So back to my opening statement in which I expressed concern for the outcome of this match.

I'm still not very pleased with Detroit's performances of late and what I saw of Columbus impressed me greatly. For some reason the Blue Jackets have had great success on the road this year, and I feel they'll be a very determined team heading into the Joe. If the Red Wings cannot match this determination, they'll surely be beaten. I only take solace in the fact that they won Friday's game by the skin of their teeth. A wide margin would surely result in Detroit's patented complacency that kills them in so many winnable games. Also, Detroit sucks before 7pm. I don't know why, but ever since I could remember the Winged Wheel has seemed to struggled in daytime or twilight scheduled games.

It's not all doom and gloom though. At the end of the day, the Wings won without any offense from their top 3 scorers Lidstrom, Zetterberg and Datsyuk. They also spent a good portion of the first half of the game short-handed without any ill-effects. With this in mind, there's a lot more good that could happen to help them pick up two points in this one.

It's an important two points up for grabs in my opinion. Our boys might be sitting in a pleasant position right now, but it's been a pretty leisurely schedule so far. December's schedule is flat out with several road trips, it'll be terribly difficult to maintain .750pt%. Let's get 'er done while we can!

So Mikey Mo's Out

After undergoing surgery early today for his severed flexor tendon in his wrist, Mike Modano will be out indefinitely. It was pretty much the only negative to come form last night's 2-1 win in Columbus, where his right wrist was lacerated by a skate in the second period. If one were to make a guess, we're looking at somewhere in the vicinity of 2 to 6 months. Pretty wide window, I know, but I'm sure a more specific timeframe will come as doctors follow his recuperation over the coming weeks.

Regardless, the Wings will lose their 3rd line centre for a significant period -- so the question becomes, how will he be replaced?

As with most injuries, Modano's lost ice-time should provide a great opportunity for someone. That someone could well be Justin Abdelkader. I think Abby would make a great 3rd line with Hudler and Cleary. It also presents a temporary reprieve from healthy scratching for Jiri Hudler, Patrick Eaves and Drew Miller. I very purposefully use the word "temporary" because Kris Draper is slated for a return in the next fortnight. At this point, I imagine Drapes would likely rotate with Eaves and Miller and see what happens from there.

Shifting gears, and back onto the main topic, some are suggesting this injury could end the illustrious career of Mike Modano, one of the most decorated Americans to hit an NHL rink. Unfortunately, such a sad thing could happen. If Mo ends up missing the better part of 6 months (or more), it would no doubt be extremely difficult for him to get back into a line-up that is either well into it's Cup-run or worse, eliminated from the competition.

Of course, this is most likely a worst-case scenario for the Michigan-native. I like to think he has a strong chance of being healthy well before the regular season is finished.

Good luck, Mo!

Top Spot Up for Grabs in the West; Detroit @ Columbus Game Preview

I have a very vague memory of the last time Detroit lost a game 5-1. It was about this time last year, I was blind drunk at the Madison Ave Pub in downtown Toronto, in my Yzerman jersey watching the Wings get destroyed by the Leafs. As shocked as I was at the ineptitude displayed the Detroit on that night, even more shocked was I when I witnessed the next game:

Detroit 9 @ Columbus 1

Interesting...

Am I being over-zealous in my pursuit to find some positives from the debacle in Atlanta? Probably, but I guess the point I'm really trying to make is that when they get smashed this team responds. Such is the command Mike Babcock has on them.

But while Detroit's team tonight will be significantly better than the one that walloped the BJs last year, the Jackets have improved their fair share too.

One important stat that sums up the challenge this game should be:

Pts%
Detroit - .737%, 1st NHL
Columbus - .700%, 2nd NHL

Columbus have been on fire of late winning their last five games for their best start in franchise history. A huge part of their record-setting takeoff has been on the road. Columbus has gone an incredible 8-1-0 so far. To juxtapose this stat and make it even more unbelievable, in 2009/10 the BJ's won the grand total of 12 games! They already have 67% of their total wins from 09/10 in just 9 GP.

Luckily for Detroit, this game will be at the Nationwide Arena where Scott Arniel's team have looked more human, going 6-5-0. If however, Columbus are able to please the home crowd and improve their modest record tonight, they will leapfrog the Wings for top spot in the West. I'm not sure if Columbus has been there ever, let alone at this point in the season.

For the Wings, Jiri Hudler returns to the line-up as Drew Miller is the rotated scratch tonight.

A Game Best Forgotten

Thrashers 5, Red Wings 1 -- I think this one falls under the "Never happened" category.

The Wings just never seemed to be too interested in putting in what was necessary to win. A nasty little habit had been creeping up before this game, and for the most part Detroit had been getting away with it, but it had to catch up eventually and in Atlanta it did... big time.

Being the irritatingly fair guy I am, I have to say, Atlanta isn't a terrible team. I daresay they've improved quite a bit since they last upset us 12 months ago. They've got a great young group there and I never realized this, but their defense is actually very solid. A great mixture of experience and offense. This should be a playoff team really. They seem to be coming on of late, but it's difficult to see why their record is so mediocre at this point in the season.

Detroit heads north to Ohio to face the Blue Jackets tomorrow night. I sincerely hope they're more prepared this time around. I seem to recall getting destroyed by Columbus even worse than this not too long ago. I don't want to harp too much on the negatives, but we really gotta watch those turnovers and help the goalie out a little. Jimmy wasn't at his best [again] but he could've gotten by with a little help from his friends. No points for recognizing the Beatles reference.

Perhaps Howard might get a rest. Osgood isn't expected to be ready to play until next week so maybe Joey MacDonald will get his first start as a Red Wing since, I dunno... I guess the days of Manny Legace?? This is just pure speculation, but maybe Howard could benefit from the rest. While I agree with giving Howard a #1 goalie amount of starts, I do not want to see the Nabokov, Kiprusoff, Brodeur type of work overload that kills a team come May. There's no advantage to giving Howard 70 starts a season, particularly with Detroit's lofty position in the standings. The NHL season is a marathon, not a sprint.

So anyway, let's move on and get back on track with a W. Go Wings!

Detroit to Face Hot Goalie in Atlanta; Game Preview

He doesn't have the best winning record of the two Thrashers netminders, but Ondrej Pavelec's stats up against his counterpart, Chris Mason's have won the young "future franchise goalie" the starter's job... for now.

He held a shutout streak that lasted a touch over two hours last week which included a 5-0 drilling of the run-and-gun Washington Capitals. Not to be forgotten is Pavelec's performance in Detroit almost exactly one year ago. The Thrashers held off the Red Wings to a 2-0 win, with the Czech goalie stopping all 40 shots that came his way. Of course, 12 months later this Red Wings team is a little better.

So much so in fact, Mike Babcock's biggest decision right now is which of his fourth-liners sit in the press-box. For the past three weeks or so Drew Miller and Patrick Eaves have been the unlucky pair to be frequent healthy scratches under Babcock's current rotation. Neither player has played particularly bad in fact, both Eaves and Miller traded 2 point games just last week, but such is the depth of the Detroit Red Wings. But will someone else be facing the axe this time around?

The way they're playing now, both Eaves and Miller would be walk-up starts for any other team, perhaps they've earned that status with Detroit. Perhaps Modano, Helm and Hudler should watch themselves. That's the beautiful thing about having this sort of depth -- players can't coast, they've gotta earn it!

Dan Cleary seems to have pulled up nicely after his early exit from the Calgary game with a sore shoulder. Mike Modano also appears to be at full health and ready to go for Atlanta.

Now onto the game.

Anything's possible in the NHL, but I think it's a fairly safe bet that this game won't be a repeat of last year's shutout victory for the Thrash. The Red Wings scoring is very balanced from top to bottom including the blueline, and while there have been off games here and there, the consistency of this attack usually proves to be unfriendly to a goalie's stats -- just ask Jaroslav Halak.

Atlanta will probably need to score at least 3 goals to win, probably more and that's not going to be easy either. Jimmy Howard wasn't stellar against the Flames or Wild, and that's why I believe he will come out very sharp in this one. Howard's not one to get rattled, and doesn't seem to care too much for losing. Atlanta will have their work cut out for them.

Enjoy the game!

UPDATE: As it happens, the speculation was correct; Miller and Eaves are in with Hudler the tonight's healthy scratch.

Dan Cleary Day-to-Day

Mlive has thankfully reported Dan Cleary's shoulder injury, sustained in last night's win over Calgary is only minor. From mlive:

"The Detroit Red Wings will know more about the condition of Danny Cleary when they return to practice Tuesday, but general manager Ken Holland on Monday said the forward does not have a significant injury."

Cleary is listed as day-to-day with a shoulder injury, we'll see if he's available for Tuesday's clash with the Thrashers.

For Those Wondering...

Sorry about the lack of updating, I've been having some major computer issues of late. It got so bad in fact, that I've had to purchase a brand new one. I've had enough of PC's, my girlfriend finally converted me -- I am now a Mac owner. With this I anticipate fewer technical issues.

Later tonight I'll have all the apps that I require to maintain WOAW, so the ticker as well as the game previews will be back to their full glory!

Thanks for reading, Go Wings!

Police Contacted After Red Wings Rob Flames

That was something.

I remember early in this third period thinking to myself, "Looks like one of those 'Write-Off' nights for the Wings -- we're just not getting it done."

Well, the Wings got it done and the Flames must be wondering exactly what it takes to get a W against the Winged Wheel. Some might say less penalty calls from the refs would do it, and that may well be true, but I'm a member of the happy party so I'll dwell on the positives.

Firstly, Detroit played well below standards and Calgary, from my estimation, was very good. Jarome Iginla was a star again and Alex Tanguay looked like he was back in Colorado 10 years ago. Calgary played the Wings hard and looked like a playoffs team. For the first two periods, the Wings not so much. And as a result, the Wings faced two 2-goal deficits in the final frame.

This looks like a job for the Eurotwins!

It's been a while since the Hank and Pav led the boys to victory. With the recent surges from the bottom two lines, heroics from the pair had become much less of a necessity. But it had to happen eventually, and this was the night. In the third period, Pavel Datsyuk got a goal and an assist while Henrik Zetterberg netted two goals -- including the game-tying goal with 3 seconds left.

Not to be upstaged however, was the immortal Nick Lidstrom, who continued his great game (and amazing season) with the game-winner in overtime from a beautiful finish to a play started by hard work down low by Darren Helm and Todd Bertuzzi. Lids finished with a goal and two assists taking his season points total to 20 to lead all defensemen.

One might look at the PP stat 3-7 and think the Detroit powerplay was on fire on this night. But like many stats, this one is very misleading. The Flames were very unlucky to have such a glaring figure result from their efforts. Basically my view of Detroit's powerplay is 4 atrocious PPs, 1 good 6-on-4, and two others they managed to score on. The Wings could just as easily have gone 1-7 and lost this one big. In this way, I think the Flames were extremely unlucky to lose.

You could say it's a good thing, you could say it's a bad thing. I choose to be a member of the former, encouraged by the fact that despite the sub-par performance, the Wings managed to steal two points from a game they had no business getting points in. The thought of what they might do when at their peak kinda excites me. I'm just hoping that becomes a frequent thing after March.

The major negative that deserves to be mentioned is the apparent injury to the red-hot Dan Cleary. Disco Dan left the game in the second period with an apparent upper-body injury. Hopefully details will surface soon.

The win gave Detroit a near-perfect 6-game homestand getting 11 of 12 possible points as they head to Atlanta to face the Thrashers in their first Eastern Conference meeting of the season.

Slumping Blues Meet Red Hot Red Wings; Game Preview

Barely a week ago they lead the NHL, but after a 0-3-1 run in the past 10 days, the Blues are looking to regain that confidence that had them looking down at Detroit and everyone else.

How they're looking
It was all going swimmingly for Blues head coach Davis Payne, whose stingy chargers had won the first 2 games of a small 3-game east coast road trip. In the last 6 games they'd played they'd given up the grand total of 4 goals. That's right... four. Then came the Blue Jackets and the floodgates opened. The Blues were inexplicably smashed that night in Columbus, 8-1. Since their 7-game win streak, the white hot Jaroslav Halak has gone 0-2-1 giving up 12 goals in 64 shots, as opposed to his 15 goals on 239 shots that preceded it. Perhaps he won't be a lock to start the game in Detroit, with back-up and ex-Wing, Ty Conklin displaying in the past he is quite capable of getting a "W" against his former team.

Detroit's recent form has been decidedly better.

The Red Wings have won 9 of their last 11 but will be looking to buck an early trend in the 2010/11 season, of winning streaks peaking at 3 games. Twice this season Detroit has won three games only to lose the fourth.

With the Man Advantage
An interesting factor in this game could be special teams.

Neither team has particularly remarkable stats down a man, Detroit 9th overall and St. Louis 17th and each team's success is even less remarkable on the powerplay (Detroit - 14th, St. Louis - 25th). Chances are however, that Detroit might get a good opportunity to improve their PP% against a team that averages the most PIM/game in the NHL. Take it for what it's worth, but each game the Blues give up 9 minutes of penalties more than the Winged Wheel per game. If that trend holds against in this game, Detroit could ride a win from a strong PP alone.

Injury Riddled Avs Visit Detroit; Game Preview

The Red Wings thought it was bad last year.

Colorado sits tied for the League-lead with 10 players listed on IR putting team depth to the test. Coach Joe Sacco would be pleased however, as the Avalanche have stood strong so far, going without names like Peter Mueller, #1 goalie Craig Anderson and captain, Adam Foote.

The blueline had been stretched so far that Avs' GM, Greg Sherman was forced to make a trade to get Ryan O'Byrne in to help with the rash of injuries to the defensive corps. O'Byrne will be in for his first game as an Avalanche tonight, and another boost could come with the possible return of Adam Foote from his concussion.

The misfortune of the visitors should not be taken for granted however, last night the Avs easily accounted for the Blue Jackets 5-1, a team that had just knocked off the League-leading St. Louis Blues by a record 8-1 scoreline.

Even with all the exclusions, Colorado has some talent that needs to be guarded closely. Youngsters David Jones, Brandon Yip, Matt Duchene are just a few of the names that can leave an opponent in regret.

Detriot on the other hand, has more. If the Wings approach this game seriously and don't underestimate their short-handed rivals, they'll surely use the superior roster to their advantage and take the two points.

I haven't got too much time to get into the Wings, besides it'll just be repetition at this point. One thing I do feel obligated to note is the captain, Nick Lidstrom. Right now he is by far Detroit's best player and easily the best defenseman in the NHL so far. If his season continues this way, I guarantee he'll win his 7th Norris Trophy. This man is a freak.

Red Wings vs. Oilers Game Day Preview

The hope and excitement of a new season was strong in Edmonton. A new-look team stocked with young talent and worlds of promise sparked wild wonderment of the possibilities that lie ahead. But one month later, it's becoming quickly apparent that the path back to the Stanley Cup could be a little longer than initially hoped.

The cellar-dweller of the 2009/10 NHL season Oilers kicked off the '11 campaign in the right fashion with two solid wins, including a 4-0 drubbing of the old enemy, Calgary in front of rapturous fans. The fortunes since then however, have turned quickly -- managing only 2 more wins from the next 11 games of the season for a record of 4-7-2. Interestingly, both of those wins were in Chicago.

Edmonton meets Detroit at the mid-point of their 5-game tour of the East, beating the defending-Champ Blackhawks but falling 7-1 to Carolina two nights later.

The Red Wings season at this point has been almost the inverse of Edmonton's, sitting 4th in the West with a 9-3-1 record. Despite this pleasing start, the Winged Wheel has been far from dominant, narrowly dodging defeat a few times including their 3-2 overtime victory over the Coyotes three nights ago.

Nearing optimum health for the first time in the season, Detroit enjoyed once again having the presence of Brian Rafalski on the blueline. The only players remaining on IR for the Wings are the back-up goalie, Chris Osgood and Kris Draper, who would more or less be considered a depth player at this stage.

For the Red Wings, a return to form for the second line is eagerly awaited. Todd Bertuzzi, Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula were setting the League on fire early, a huge part of Detroit's strong start. And while Detroit's form overall hasn't regressed too much, a return in the last 5 games of more than a goal and 3 assists from the trio, would go a lot further to helping pick up a W.

One of the keys to victory for Detroit will be defense. This young Oilers team will without doubt give the Red Wings chances. However, Nikolai Khabibulin won't make it easy to light the lamp, as demonstrated in their recent meeting in Edmonton. In the other end, this talented group of Oilers are sure to generate their share of scoring chances in Detroit's zone. Lidstrom and his blueline crew will be wise to watch some white sweaters closely and give them little space to display their skills. Those collective skills will however, be without captain Shawn Horcoff -- one of the Oil's offensive leaders in the young season.

As displayed in the stats below, all signs point to a Detroit win. Of course that means the Wings will probably lose or need a shootout to win. I guess we'll soon see.

A few updates:
Devan Dubnyk will start in net for the Oilers tonight, and the line-up has been shuffled a little in an effort to get Jiri Hudler on the scoresheet.

JA=MC²; Abdelkader's Great Start

Since October 30 I have been working on a new scientific model to describe the Red Wings. Scribbling away at my whiteboard, with my hair frizzed up and my eyes blinking only when absolutely necessary for the better part of two weeks. I smell like dry-erase pens and toasted cheese. I think my girlfriend might have dumped me at some point this week -- I'm not 100% on that, but it's not important right now because I've done it! A new mathematical formula that I'm sure you'll agree perfectly sums up the energy of the Detroit Red Wings right now.

JA=MC²

Allow me to elaborate:

Justin Abdelkader (JA) is equal to mass (M) multiplied by the velocity of light (C) squared.

This guy is all energy. Since his return he's been the hardest skater, the biggest hitter and also one of the best scorers on the team. He's done it all. He was a depth guy to start the season, a future role-player. But Justin Abdelkader has made his statement this season and made it clear. He is no depth player, the future is now and he is quickly carving his way into being an extremely important role-player for the Red Wings.

Remember when Max Talbot scored two goals in Game Seven in 2009? Of course you do. Sadly, I do too. This is what I invision for the future of this guy. He'll never be outscoring Zetterberg or Datsyuk, but when they've got defensemen all over them and secondary scoring is key, Justin Abdelkader will be there.

With the exception of Dan Cleary he's been Detroit's best performer in the past five games. His numbers aren't extraordinary but they are more than you could hope to get from a third-liner whose main objective is to prevent goals. 2 goals, 1 assist, +5, 1 fight and 1 GWG in his five games. Not bad, 'ey?

The other beautiful thing is he's making his linemates better with his energy.

Is it a coincidence Mike Modano has gone from the one goal in his first eight games to a goal and 3 asissts in his five with Abby? Or how about Cleary going from just a goal and an assist in the first eight to 3 goals and 4 assists since JA's return? Possibly, but methinks not.

The only downside that I can really think of at this point is the quietness of the top two lines in the last five games. Perhaps Z and the Mule are intimidated by the fierce redhead.

In summary, I'd like to congratulate Abby on his performance so far in his short season. He's kept it simple and played with with big E. Nope, not Jonathan Ericsson... energy. All that energy and his 'balls to the wall' style of play have generated the points and helped get the Red Wings the wins.

Keep it up, Abs! We're all rooting for you.

Red Wings Need More From Top Six Against 'Yotes

In the last three games, the Red Wings have received only 6 points from the first line and 2 points from the second but the good news is that by virtue of some solid goaltending and some pitching in from the third line, they won two of those three. That however, wasn't enough against the streaking Vancouver Canucks who took the game away from Detroit in the final period of Saturday night's 6-4 victory.

The Door Revolves
The rotation will continue in the bottom six, as Drew Miller is a healthy scratch to make way for Patrick Eaves. The big inclusion for Red Wings however, will be Brian Rafalski, who returns after a 3 or so week hiatus from knee surgery. Rookie Jakub Kindl will be a healthy scratch and the defensive core will be shuffled accordingly.

The Hot Hand:
He's only played four games since his belated debut to the season, but what a four games it's been! Young Abdelkader isn't the kind of player expected to appear on a scoresheet to have a good game, but in the last three games Abby has 2 goals and an assist to go along with his physical presence... oh yeah, and a fight just to boot.

A Change of Seasons
The Coyotes have had a tough go of it so far in the 2010/11 season. Their 4-5-4 start is in vast contrast to their fortunes last season. Of their two wins on the road this season though, one of them was at the Joe Louis Arena only a few weeks ago.

Red Wings Visit Canucks to End Western Canadian Road Trip

Divisional leaders square-off tonight with Detroit putting their League-best win% (.773) on the line against Vancouver's 5-game winning streak. Definitely two of the hottest teams in the NHL right now, it promises to be an exciting display of hockey.

Patrick Eaves will be the odd man out tonight as Mike Babcock does the rounds on his bottom 6 forwards. A healthy scratch for last night's 3-1 win in Edmonton, Drew Miller wasn't dropped for any particular reason other than the fact he's on an exceptionally deep team. He'll be back tonight however, to form a line with Darren Helm and Jiri Hudler.

In Goal: Jimmy Howard seems to have shown zero effects from his back problems that had him sitting out two games last week. Howard returned for Detroit's Western Canada road-trip, so far stopping all but 2 of the 47 shots headed his way. The victories over Calgary and Edmonton now have him at a 22 game streak for starts without a regulation loss. They also give him some pretty impressive stats in this early 10/11 season, as seen below.

Roberto Luongo is expected to be in goal tonight for the Canucks, even though his back-up Cory Schneider has had the more impressive start and there have been rumblings that he will get his second straight start.

Step it up: Johan Franzen has gone quiet in November after his sick start to the season with 6 goal in 8 games. The Mule has been held pointless in the last two games, something that hasn't happened since April. Franzen is a streaky player, and Detroit will need another streak from him tonight if they want to make it 3/3 in Western Canada.

Red Wings Vs. Oilers Preview

The cellar-dwelling Edmonton Oilers look to get their season back on the right track tonight as they await a visit from the lofty Red Wings.

Detroit (7-2-1) puts one of the best records in the League on the line tonight against one of the worst (3-5-2) but don't let that fool you into penciling down this result too soon.

While struggling with the challenges of injuries, the positions of these two sides wasn't so different last season. Despite that, the Oilers dominated the season series winning all but one game. They've had a tough time taking points taking points in the last few weeks but the talent Edmonton now boasts on the front-end in unignorable -- even at this early stage.

Rookies Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi (did I spell it right?) are future stars of the game. With the talent these three have, it's almost a foregone conclusion as long as they can avoid serious injuries. Their combined production so far this season hasn't been extraordinary with 19 points between them in 10 games, but some incredible flashes of brilliance have been on display more than a few times already. When these boys mature and begin to develop some consistency they will surely prove to be a handful for even the best of opponents. Right now the rookie trio is lead by Ales Hemsky and Shawn Horcoff, and Lidstrom and the Red Wings' defense would be wise to pay attention and stay on their game against this potent attack.

Red Wings At Flames Game Preview

Detroit kicks off a 3-game road trip tonight, enter the Saddledome in Calgary with the Flames seeking revenge.

These two teams met recently a few weeks ago on October 21 when the Red Wings managed to score three unanswered goals to turn a 2-1 1st period deficit into a 4-2 win.

The same goalies are expected to man the nets as with Kiprusoff backstopping the Flames and Jimmy Howard making his return from a minor back injury that had him sidelined for two games. Just as well too!

Chris Osgood was called upon to be Detroit's last line of defense during Howard's recuperation, splitting his two starts. A tweak of his groin during practise on Monday has unfortunately put him on the shelf, hopefully only for a few games also. Joey MacDonald, called up from the Griffins to be Osgood's back-up, will be staying in Detroit just a little longer.

Unfortunately for the home team, the Flames have received little relief from their early injury bug. With Pardy, Kotalik, Moss, Ivanans and Langkow all injured for the first meeting in Detroit a fortnight ago, it seems none of those men will be available for this game either.

Big Jonathan Ericsson will make his return tonight after having back spasms and missing the better part of a month, resulting in Doug Janik returning to Grand Rapids.

IR Movement for Monday

A few interesting developments from today's practise.

- Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Ericsson are ready to go for Thursday's game against Calgary. This means Doug Janik will be sent down to Grand Rapids. But what about Joey MacDonald you ask?

- After a solid game from Ozzie against the Preds, he hurt his groin in practise and is expected to be out up to 3 weeks. So MacDonald will stay with Detroit to be Howard's back-up.

- Rafalski is skating again, and is hopeful to be back in the line-up in a week or so.

So the question becomes, who will sit for Rafalski?

The two most obvious candidates would have to be Ericsson and Kindl. Jakub Kindl has been solid for the Wings and seems to have enjoyed his time on the powerplay. While it hasn't resulted in much offense, I do feel he has shown some promise to be a D-man that can chip in with some points at times. That said, he still has to become more polished and needs to work on his decision making. In most games, there has been at least one example of bad decision-making from Kindl -- but that is a symptom if his limited experience and something that will surely improve with ice time.

Ericsson has been injured for some time so he has no recent play to judge. This next week will probably be an audition of sorts for Big E, but I feel fairly certain that regardless of his play, Kindl will have to sit in the press box upon Rafalski's return.

Why?

Since he cracked the line-up a few years ago, Ericsson has always been given the benefit of the doubt and every opportunity to excel. On this occasion, I believe once again, Ericsson will need to play himself out of a spot rather than have it taken away by Kindl. That could well happen too. We'll just wait and see. It's a great decision for a coach to have to make however -- Ericsson and Kindl as #6 and #7 defensemen gives a very true reflection of the depth this team has.