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.