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.

New Red Wings Wallpaper; Red Wings Skyline

Visit the Wallpapers page to download the new Detroit Skyline wallpaper which features Jimmy Howard, Johan Franzen, Nick Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. It wasn't the original intention but it's almost turned out a little bit mafia-style. Anyway, please enjoy.

New Wallpapers!!

Word on a Wing plans on expanding its features a little with the addition of desktop wallpaper available for download. The first release is Henrik Zetterberg available in 1280x800, 1280x1024 and 800x600. If anyone has any special requests in terms of players or screen resolutions let me me know and I'll see what I can do.

Visit the Wallpapers page to download!

The Mule Kicks Sharks in Record Setting Affair

The fans at the Joe got quite a show in what might have been the Red Wings last home game of the season. Facing an undeserved and embarrassing sweep, the Mule lead Detroit past the hapless Sharks in a memorable night.

It wasn't the most auspicious start for Detroit when a mix-up with Franzen on the bench lead to a Too Many Men penalty, giving the Sharks an early powerplay. It turned out to be a blessing however, as Detroit was solid on the PK and picked up some momentum leading to a powerplay of their own.

Then, Detroit exploded onto the scoreboard.

With only 3 seconds remaining in Helminen's tripping penalty, Johan Franzen put the puck past Nabokov by way of Todd Bertuzzi's calf. The Mule refused to be kept off the scoreboard though, netting the next three goals of the game in a span of 3:26, the second fastest in NHL playoff history.

After 1 period, the Sharks found themselves in an insurmountable 5-0 hole.

The onslaught slowed down after that. With Sharks' goalie Nabokov looking on from the bench, the Wings fired a few more by Thomas Greiss whilst San Jose netted their only goal of the night while on one of their mandatory 5-on-3 powerplays.

After all was said and done, Johan Franzen finished with 4 goals and 6 points, tying franchise records. The Mule's supporting role was played by Todd Bertuzzi with 1 goal and 4 assists, while Lidstrom and Zetterberg got 2 assists each to be the Wings' other multi-point players. Jimmy Howard stopped 28 of 29 for the win.

Franzen is now tied with Sidney Crosby for the league lead in points with 17 in 11 games. He has a point in each Red Wings game this playoff year.

For me, it was a reminder of what the Red Wings and Johan Franzen can do to a good team like the Sharks. The sad part is, Detroit is still in a very big 3-1 hole. I'm unconvinced the Sharks will be doubting their ability on Saturday. It's an embarrassing 7-1 setback, but it ends a 6-game win-streak for San Jose, 3 of them against Detroit. If anything, it will help the Wings believe they can overcome this huge hurdle they face, but they need to replicate the intensity shown in Game 4 another three times. Anything less will probably mean curtains for the 2010 season.

Wings Tie Series Again with 3-0 Victory

Sometimes the scoreline isn't a true reflection of a game and this is one of those occasions, in a tightly contested win for the Wings.

After Game 3, I did something I rarely do -- singled out poor performances. But such was the dissatisfaction I felt with the performances of Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Franzen, Lidstrom and Howard. I'm guessing I wasn't the only one that thought so as they all seemed to respond with exceptional games, helping the Jimmy Howard earn his first career playoff shutout and tying the series 2-2.

The Coyotes were, yet again, a motivated team and made it very tough for the Wings. Most of the game was a tie-game and you got the feeling that it would take a Wings PP or a Wings turnover to open up scoring as Phoenix seemed unwilling to afford a second of time nor an inch of space to any man in red on attack.

On the 'Yotes fourth and final penalty of the game, it happened -- only just -- when Henrik Zetterberg tipped blueline drive from Todd Bertuzzi. The tip was reviewed for a high-stick but all replays showed that it was close, but not conclusive enough to overrule the initial rule on the ice. The Wings headed into the final change with a 1 goal lead.

The third period was a defensive challenge having to kill off 3 powerplays, two of which overlapped for a short 5-on-3. Howard's shutout bid was assisted by some inaccurate shooting from Phoenix who took almost half the period to register their first shot on goal after sending 8 shots wide. The successsful PKing gave some momentum to Detroit, who knocked in an insurance goal from Pavel Datsyuk with just over 4 minutes to play. Zetterberg got his 2nd of the game and fifth of the series to make it 3-0.

Special teams were a big win for Detroit, going 1/4 on the PP and killing off all 6 of Phoenix's man-advantages.

Detroit will now enjoy a 2-day break before resuming the series in Phoenix on Friday night.

Game 3 Preview: Coyotes vs. Red Wings

The Red Wings find themselves with a great opportunity in the next two games to stamp out any confidence the Coyotes can muster and take control of the Western Conference quarter-finals.

The Red Wings line-up remains unchanged from the one that took a 7-4 decision in Game Two in Phoenix to steal home-ice advantage. The Wings will hope to tighten up on a so far potent Coyotes' offense that has scored 7 goals on Jimmy Howard in the first two games. Luckily, the Detroit attack has been slightly more dangerous, with 9 goals of their own.

Vezina-contender Ilya Bryzgalov will hope to bounce back after giving up 6 goals on Friday night; a night he'd probably rather forget. Jimmy Howard's night wasn't much better, giving up 4, but taking the win.

Wings Even Series, Take Home Ice

What a wonderfully energetic and impetuous team they have other there in Phoenix.

Sure, it's really easy to be gracious after a win, but despite the frustratingly insistent nature of their play in the first two games, I like this team and think they'll be very difficult to put away.

The Coyotes, again, came out hard and made me, for one, very nervous. After taking a 1-0 lead into the locker-room after 1 period, the game got a little silly. It wasn't the kind of game I'd like to see from Detroit, nor did I think it would fare us well in the game. The second stanza turned out to be a 5-goal shootout, won by the Wings which saw the game tied at 3 after two frames.

The goal-trading continued in the first half of the final frame, albeit with a swap in who the leading team would be the first of them coming from Justin Abdelkader. And what a goal...

... remember him? Abby hadn't played in a little while, but he was returned to the line-up in place of a quiet Jason Williams, and I think it's safe to say he'll be sticking around for a bit after this game. "Gator" was hitting everything that moved all night, but his Datsyukian steal in the Coyotes' zone and deke past Bryzgalov was a play to remember.

After that, the Red Wings were.... the Red Wings. Momentum was seized and never yielded, solidifying the lead with a PP goal with just over 2 minutes left, and an empty-netter for Henrik Zetterberg, completing his hat-trick for the night and sealing a 7-4 victory for Detroit.

The Wings now have the home-ice advantage and look ahead to Game Three in Detroit on Sunday afternoon.

Notes:

- It was not a goalies' night -- Bryzgalov: 7-39, Howard: 4-31.

- Henrik Zetterberg recorded his first career hat-trick.

- The Zetterberg/Filppula/Bertuzzi line combined for 5 goals and 3 assists and a +5 rating.

- Shane Doan was the best Coyote with 1 goal and 1 assist with a +1 rating.

- Justin Abdelkader played his first NHL game since January 27 getting a goal and a +1 rating.

- Vernon Fiddler fell hard against the boards late in the third and was helped into the locker-room.

NHL.com Boxscore

The Red Wings Have Gained My Respect

On October 26:
Detroit - 12th Western conference, 3-4-2

On November 27:
Detroit - 11th Western conference, 11-9-4

On February 11:
Detroit - 10th Western conference, 27-21-11

End of Regular Season:
Detroit - 5th Western conference, 44-24-14

Not bad, Red Wings. Not bad at all. It's been a very challenging season -- probably the most challenging since the early-90's -- but as displayed by the late climb through the standings, the adversity has been met with admirable character.

Since just before the Olympics on February 11, Detroit has gone 17-3-3 to shoot from 10th to 5th in the conference against some fierce compeition. The late-season tear has put the league on notice, with strong wins over highly-rated Cup-contenders like Chicago, Pittsburgh, Vancouver and Buffalo.

The surge, as impressive as it was, was still not enough for the Wings to nab home-ice advantage. It has however, allowed them to stay away from Chicago and San Jose for the first round at least. Having said that, playing Phoenix should prove to be just as challenging.

The year has seen man-games lost through injury like no other Red Wings season I can remember. Guys like Franzen, Kronwall, Filppula, Williams and Holmstrom are costly players to lose, but the effect is compounded when you look at how the Wings' best players struggle with the loss of their teammates.

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg have both had difficulty excelling without the support cast. Both players put up 70 points on the season. For both players, it's their worst point total since 2003/04, except for Hank's 68 points in 63 games in 2006/07.

Both players showed a return to form with the returns of Williams, Filppula and Franzen, and it's no co-incidence.

The one constant in the final two-thirds of the season was, shockingly enough, the goaltending. 26-year old rookie Jimmy Howard has surely been the MVP for the Red Wings this season, with consistency that will no doubt get him a Calder trophy nomination and a continued solid presence between the pipes will go a long way to the Red Wings going deep in the postseason for the fourth consecutive year.

Whatever the case, while the Red Wings can be proud of the last two months of hockey, if they can't be proud of the next two, it's a failed season. Such is the pressure of being part of this great franchise.

"To whom much is given, much is expected."

One Step Closer; Wings 3, Penguins 1

I doubt it could be called "revenge", but the Red Wings gave the Penguins some minor payback from their last visit to the Joe. A visit which I don't remember so clearly.

Moving right along, the Wings have now taken 11 of the last 12 points they've contested for and continue to consolidate their place in the top 8 of the West. The big win over the defending Champs now gives Detroit a 4-point lead over Calgary, who sits in ninth. Both teams have 10 games to play in the season.

The first period began with an early powerplay, one of four that the Wings weren't able to convert on. The period progressed as a stalemate until Valtteri Filppula continued his fine form with a great toe-drag move to thread the puck through the legs of both Sergei Gonchar and Pens' goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury to take a 1-0 lead late in the 1st.

The second period was also tightly contested with both teams trading goals. Henrik Zetterberg rolled on with his hot-hand, backhanding a rebound off his own backhand attempt by Fleury before Pascal Dupuis cut the lead in half amid a goal-mouth scramble.

A delirious Red Wings audience watched Henrik Zetterberg solidify the lead with his 22nd of the season and they steadily headed to one of their strongest victories of the season with a 3-1 result.

As the final seconds ticked away, a beaten Sidney Crosby took out his frustrations on his opponent, Henrik Zetterberg, but the Red Wings wouldn't have it. Jimmy Howard even got involved as a fired-up squad in Red left the ice to an enraptured and energetic crowd, serenading the Pens' captain with chants of "Crosby Sucks!"

Wow Factor

Funnily enough, I think Pascal Dupuis' goal was one of the biggest positives of the game. Detroit seemed to respond to the challenge as they gave their talented opponents very little to work with and were determined to take full points.

Special Teams

Typically, for a Detroit Red Wings contest, not many powerplays were awarded. The Red Wings were unable to convert on any of their 4 chances, but gave the Penguins nothing on their sole PP, extending their streak of successful penalty killing to 9 games.

In Net

- Jimmy Howard stopped all but one of Pittsburgh's 27 shots on goal.

- Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves of 33 for the Penguins.

Next...

Detroit continues their 3-game home stand as they await the arrival of the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.

The Pens Visit Detroit

All the Time in the World; Red Wings 4, Canucks 3

If Mike Babcock was anything like my dad, and the Red Wings were me in high school, he'd be criticizing his players to no end about "Always leaving everything to the last second!"

Nevertheless, two points is two points and what I like most about this victory, is that the Red Wings had every excuse to lose this one to the NW division-leading Canucks.

With a few injuries, short bench with only 10 forwards, second of back-to-back games and a few bad bounces early, one might've expected this one to become somewhat of a blowout after heading into the first change with a 2-0 deficit, after having outshot their leading opponents, 17-8.

But in the second period, fortunes changed as the Wings continued to apply the pressure and were eventually rewarded for it much to the chagrin of the Vancouver crowd, as Todd Bertuzzi snapped his 19-game goal-less drought.

Then irritation turned to outrage for the Canucks' faithful, as they witnessed a tying-goal only 5 seconds later. A Vancouver Canucks record for quickest successive goals allowed as well as a Red Wings franchise record for goals scored.

5 seconds!!

What can you do in five seconds?

In five seconds, I can get one shoe on my foot and begin begin to tie the laces. Pavel Datsyuk on the other hand, can win a face-off, deke through a few defenders and fire a 40-footer past an Olympic gold-medal winning goalie. Not bad, eh?

But more goodness was still to come in the second period as while on the penalty kill, Valtteri Filppula seized on a mis-handled puck from Alex Edler and streaked in all alone and backhanded it by Roberto Luongo for his eighth of the season, giving the Red Wings a 3-2 lead after 2 and stunning the Canucks.

The Vancouver Canucks were however, a league-leading +37 in the third period of a hockey game and added to that despite being outplayed again by the gutsy Detroiters, and tied it up with a goal from the Sedins that seems almost mandatory in a Canucks game these days.

Overtime comes and much of the same happens, with the Wings outplaying the 'Nucks outshooting them 4-1, the last of which came under all too familiar circumstances, with 0.3 seconds left in the OT frame from the stick of Henrik Zetterberg. A shot which happened to get by the goalie to end the game, giving Detroit the two points.

Detroit now sits 2 points ahead of Calgary with 11 games to play for both teams. Nashville is 4 points ahead with 10 games left and Colorado now sits 7th with a 3-point lead over Detroit but have a game in hand of the Wings.

WOW Factor
There were two obvious WOW moments in this game for the Wings, but Pavel Datsyuk's long-range goal on Roberto Luongo seemed to instill a confidence into the Wings that this game was theirs to lose and while the scoreboard wasn't lopsided, the Wings thoroughly outplayed the Canucks and deserved the win.

Special Teams
The refs weren't too busy in this one with only 2 PP's each way, but Detroit's special teams were again a big reason for the win. While Detroit weren't able to convert with the man-advantage, they were very effective down a man, and without Flip's shortie in the second, the Wings probably would have had nothing to show for this game.

In Net
- Jimmy Howard stopped 29 of 32 shots for the Wings in his 18th consecutive start.
- Roberto Luongo faced a whopping 54 shots for Vancouver, stopping 50 of them.

Next...
Detroit heads home today and prepares for a 3-game home stand, the first game being tomorrow night against the defending Stanley Cup-champs, Pittsburgh.

Preview; Red Wings vs. Canucks

After a dramatic comeback loss to the last-placed, lowly Oilers, the Red Wings will now have to get it done in Vancouver against the Oilers' division leader, the Canucks.


The last meeting at GM Place saw a Red Wings victory, and the same will need to happen as the Calgary Flames refuse to let up on the playoff race after a narrow win at home to the Sharks last night.


The Red Wings still hold the eighth and final playoff spot over Calgary by virtue of win%, having a game in hand, but the two teams share equal points. A regulation loss will see Detroit slip to 9th and out with 11 games to play.

Detroit Blast Wild 5-1

Two out of three ain't bad: Detroit came up big over Minnesota, Nashville loses 8-5 to the Sharks, but Calgary rolls on, shutting out the Senators, 2-0. All this means that Detroit remains out of the playoffs -- in 9th for now, but draws within a point of 7th-placed Nashville with all three teams having playing the same amount of games.

In this game, not always does the score reflect the game but in this case it was fairly accurate, as Detroit steam-rolled over the Wild, 5-1.

The Wings got off to a start quick which, in the end, set up the victory. Johan Franzen opened the scoring at 2:25 as the Wings piled the pressure on Wild goalie, Josh Harding, the puck barely exiting the Minnesota zone for the first five minutes. Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg added two more mid-way through the 1st to make it 3-0. Some hope came though, as Andrew Ebbett gave the Wild a chance, just 11 seconds before the 1st intermission as the puck went in off his skate making it 3-1.

Detroit controlled the game from that point on however, Howard shutting the Wild out the rest of the way with Miller adding a shorthanded goal and Franzen netting his second late in the game, to seal to win.

Henrik Zetterberg answered the call from his coach to be better, adding 2 assists to his 1st-period goal, to tie Pavel Datsyuk for total points this season for the Red Wings lead. Johan Franzen's 2 goals is also a welcome sight for Wings' fans. A hot Mule come April can decide the winner of a playoff series and all signs seem to show that Franzen can once again, be a hassle for defenders in the second season.

Chris Osgood's patient wait on the bench looks like it will continue as Jimmy Howard doesn't seem to be showing signs of faltering. Howard stopped 21 of 22 shots, but didn't need to be spectacular for the win with a lot of help from his skaters.

Detroit will play their last home game before a 3-game Western Canada road trip next week when they meet the Sabres at the Joe.

Wild Hope to Gain Ground in Detroit

The Red Wings have not seen such consistent necessity to win outside the playoffs in so many years, the younger Wings' fans have never experienced such a thing.

After a costly loss to the Flames on Tuesday night booted the Red Wings from the top-8 in the West, Detroit hopes to bounce back tonight with a win over Minnesota at the Joe. In response to the loss to Calgary, Mike Babcock has done some minor line shuffling putting Henrik Zetterberg with Valtteri Filppula and Daniel Cleary, in hopes of seeing some much-needed secondary scoring from the trio.

Jimmy Howard will make his 14th consecutive start while Niklas Backstrom is expected to mind the net for the Wild.

Earlier in the season, Detroit and Minnesota split two games at the Xcel Energy Center, 4-3 (SO)Detroit on January 21 and 5-2 Minnesota on January 27.

Other previews:
Winging it in Motown
Sporting News
Unconnected Red Wings Blog

Loser Drops Out... For Now

Perhaps it seems like an irritatingly recurring motif, but once again, huge points are on the line when Calgary visits Detroit. The loser of the contest will be tentatively out of the playoff cut while the winner gets two points closer to April action.

Detroit comes into the game in good form having won 4 of their last 5 meetings, the latest of which a narrow win over the division-leading Blackhawks. Todd Bertuzzi left the game late in the second period with a charley horse, but is expected to suit up against his old team, the Flames. Jonathan Ericsson, who missed the Chicago victory, will also play as Brett Lebda makes way. Pavel Datsyuk missed practice Monday, because of flu-like symptoms, but will also play.

Datsyuk has been red hot lately registering 3 goals and 5 assists in his last five games. Eurotwin counterpart, Henrik Zetterberg, has also had a hot hand with 10 points in his last seven.

For the Flames, who've won 3 of their last 4, captain Jarome Iginla will be relied upon to help his team pick up the big points. Iginla snapped up 4 points including a hat-trick in the Flames 5-2 win on Sunday, totalling 10 points in his last 6 games. His luck against Detroit however, hasn't been so auspicious as Iggy has failed to put the puck in the net against the Wings in his last 19 games against them, managing to get 10 assists. Ending his cold-streak against Babcock's boys will go a long way to getting his team the much-needing victory.

After the game, both teams will be eager to learn the result of the concurrent Atlanta vs. Nashville game. For Detroit, a win over the Flames coupled with a Nashville loss will vault them into second place. On the other hand, any sort of loss to Calgary will see them drop to ninth and provisionally out of the playoffs, regardless of the Predators' fortunes.

Jimmy Howard and Miikka Kiprusoff are likely to be in opposite nets to start.

Other previews:

Winging it in Motown

A2Y

Sportsnet.ca

mlive

Nightmare on Helm Street

Wings 5, Preds 2

Detroit got one of, if not the, most important win of the season so far, edging two points closer to the 7th-placed Nashville Predators, who now have a 3-point lead over Detroit with equal games played.

The Red Wings had a great start to the game, something lacking for most of the season, taking a 2-0 advantage into the locker-room after 1, and doubling it by the mid-point of the game on the back of a short-handed goal from Darren Helm, his second of the game.

Less than two minutes later, Nashville managed to beat Jimmy Howard to get on the board, after very little offense from Trotz's chargers prior to that.

A nervousness fell over the Red Wing-faithful at the Joe, as Nashville edged within 2 after Joel Ward put a well-placed one-timer by Howard. Detroit's general inconsistency and inability to hold onto good leads this season, began to creep into the forefront of everyone's mind at that point, but once again, Detroit steadied the ship and kept the Preds off the board from that point on, with some good goaltending and strong penalty killing.

Scorers for Detroit were Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg with the empty-netter while Nashville got goals from J.P. Dumont and Joel Ward.

Jimmy Howard had to make 20 saves for the win including a few stymied breakaway bids from Nashville.

Detroit will now need to be prepared for a rare afternoon game against divison-rival, Chicago, at the United Center on Sunday.

Hungry Wings Edge Avs

It was a fairly impressive return to action for Detroit as they overcame the surprising, young Colorado Avalanche 3-2 with a full roster and a the desperate need for points.

Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen were impressive for the Wings, who definitely needed some help from their goaltender nightmares. Both Franzen and Holmstrom seen little action this season through injury with Franzen only playin in his seventh game of the season. "Homer" scored a goal as well as adding two assists while "the Mule" helped with a goal of his own.

Detroit showed they were hungry early on as they dominated the hapless Avalanche in their own building. Scoring chances were plentiful as they outshot their opponents 10-6 in the first frame and took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room. Apparently this was just due to a tilt in the ice as Colorado took control in the second period with two even-strength goals from young guns, T.J. Galliardi and Chris Stewart.

The 10th-placed Wings recovered in the final frame and regained their advantage on the eventual game-winning goal from Lidstrom on the powerplay.

Special teams seemed to be the difference in a game where few penalties were called. Detroit went 2/4 with the advantage whilst killing off both of Colorado's two powerplays.

Captain, Nicklas Lidstrom was the game's First Star, scoring his first road goal of the season from a beautiful feed from Pavel Datsyuk, and assisting on Franzen's 1st period tally.

Detroit shot 30 pucks at Craig Anderson, while Jimmy Howard was forced to stop 22 of 24 to get the win.

The Wings head home to face Olympic-Champion, Roberto Luongo, and the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.

Wings in Vancouver

A brief summary of the international experience of each Red Wing taking part in the Olympics:

Pavel Datsyuk -- Russia

International Mens Debut: 2001

Olympic Record: 2002 - Salt Lake City (Bronze), 2006 - Torino (4th)

International Achievements: Olympic Bronze (2002), World Championship Bronze (2005)

International Stats: 41 GP, 7g, 21a, 28pts, 10PIM

Valtteri Filppula -- Finland

International Mens' Debut: 2010
Olympic Record: None
International Achievements: None
International Stats: None

Johan Franzen -- Sweden

International Mens' Debut: 2005
Olympic Record: None
International Achievements: World Championship Gold (2006)
International Stats: 13GP, 1g, 3a, 4pts, 12PIM

Niklas Kronwall -- Sweden

International Mens' Debut: 2003
Olympic Record: 2006 - Torino (Gold)
International Achievements: Olympic Gold (2006), World Championship Silver (2005)
International Stats: 24GP, 3g, 12a, 15pts, 32PIM

Nicklas Lidstrom -- Sweden

International Mens' Debut: 1991
Olympic Record: 1998 - Nagano (5th), 2002 - Salt Lake City (5th), 2006 - Torino (Gold)
International Achievements: Olympic Gold (2006), World Championship Gold (1991), World Championship Silver (2004), World Championship Bronze (1994)
International Stats: 36GP, 9g, 13a, 22pts, 12PIM

Brian Rafalski -- USA

International Mens' Debut: 2002
Olympic Record: 2002 - Salt Lake City (Silver), 2006 - Torino (8th)
International Achievements: Olympic Silver (2002)
International Stats: 15GP, 1g, 7a, 8pts, 8PIM

Henrik Zetterberg -- Sweden

International Mens' Debut: 2001
Olympic Record: 2002 - Salt Lake City (5th), 2006 - Torino (Gold)
International Achievements: Olympic Gold (2006), World Championsip Gold (2006), World Championship Silver (2003), World Championship Bronze (2001, 2002)
International Stats: 60GP, 12g, 26a, 38pts, 22PIM

New addition to the roster, defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, and Grand Rapids Griffin, Sergei Kolosov will also participate in the Olympics representing their home nations of Norway and Belarus, respectively. Both are yet to play an NHL game in the Winged Wheel.

This will be Tollefsen's international mens debut for Norway, while Kolosov rejoins his compatriots for the first time on the international stage since the 2008 World Championships.

Sharks 3, Red Wings 2 (SO)

Last night at the Joe, the Red Wings were forced to meet their mortal enemy. No, not the Sharks, the shootout.

After a much more inspired and hunger-filled effort from the Wings, they still couldn't quite manage to squeeze two points from the affair, as they fell to a 4-8 record in shootouts for the season, and 27-21-12 record overall. The loss was made even more costly as the Stars leap-frogged Detroit in the standings with their 3-1 victory over Calgary.

Despite the setback, the overall performance from the Red Wings was quite positive, particularly when compared to preceding lackluster performance in St. Louis on Tuesday.

"We played well. We played with good tempo. We looked like a hockey team," said Red Wings' coach Mike Babcock. "We had every opportunity to win."

Against the top-of-the-West San Jose Sharks, Detroit was for the most part dominant, doubling up the Sharks shot total, 52-26. That lop-sided statistic was not translated on the scoreboard however, as some defensive lapses and some outstanding goaltending from Sharks' goalie, Evgeni Nabokov, saw the game tied at two at the end of regulation.

Further positives for the home team were the performances of Johan Franzen and Jimmy Howard.

In just his second game back from a four-month layoff due to a major knee injury, Franzen again showed he hasn't lost a step. Amazingly, timing seemed to be as normal as the Mule registered 6 shots and 1 powerplay goal on the night, with a touch under 21 minutes of ice-time. His line combo with Datsyuk and Zetterberg looked very dangerous all night, and was only kept from doing more damage by the superlative efforts of Evgeni Nabokov.

Not to be outdone, Jimmy Howard was also fantastic allowing only 2 goals in 26 shots, neither of which he could be blamed for. One, from a powerful play in the crease by Thornton, and one from an ugly defensive lapse from Howard's teammates. The Sharks, while heavily outshot, had some huge chances themselves but were also stymied by the play of their opposing goalie.

Goalscorers for the night were Franzen and Jason Williams for Detroit; and Joe Thornton and Michigan-native Dwight Helminen for San Jose with Patrick Marleau netting the game-winning shootout goal for the Sharks.

The Wings hope to continue to build on these positives, when they host the red-hot Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, and try to go into the Olympic break with a win and maybe even with a provisional playoff spot.