Datsyuk-less Red Wings Face Wild; Game Preview

Game Notes:
- Jakub Kindl will play his first game since Nov. 6, as he fills in for Ruslan Salei. The Wings' brass decided to give Salei an extra day back in California with his family before he returns to the line-up. Rusty has been away from his family all season with his wife pregnant, thus the classy decision to allow him to stay. Another display of why I love this orgnaization.

- Detroit seeks their first win since Datsyuk went down with a hand injury. The first game was a 4-3 loss to St. Louis three nights ago.

- Some hot hands in Detroit include Brian Rafalski (8 assists, last 5 games), Henrik Zetterberg (2 goals, 7 assists, last 5 games) and Nick Lidstrom (5 goals, 1 assist, last 5 games).

- The Wild are riding a 3-game win streak on the back of some hot defense and goaltending. Niklas Backstrom only gave up 1 goal in each of the three wins getting a .970SV% along the way. The opposite has been true for Detroit however, as the Wings have given up 4 goals in each of their last 4 games.

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

The Playoff Picture

Last night's win over Nashville was vital to keeping with striking distance of Nashville, but perhaps just as important as that, the win helps stave off the group of teams trying to chase down the Wings for the coveted 8th and final playoff spot. Among them is Calgary, who won at home against the Devils last night, 5-3, to remain just one point shy of the Wings 72 point total.

Minnesota fell victim to a rare Edmonton victory last night, losing 2-1 in a shootout and falling one point further back of 8th, now with a 5 point deficit with a game in hand.

Other teams breathing down the necks of Detroit are Dallas, who visit the defending Champion, Penguins today, St. Louis who'll head to the Pepsi Center tonight to try and knock off the Avalanche, and arch-rival Anaheim, who'll fight for points in Phoenix.

As it stands, there are seven teams fighting for two playoff spots, one of them owned by Detroit:

7 - Nashville Predators, 75 pts, 18GR

8 - Detroit Red Wings, 72 pts, 18GR

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9. Calgary Flames, 71 pts, 18GR

10. St. Louis Blues, 69 pts, 18GR

11. Dallas Stars, 68 pts, 19GR

12. Minnesota Wild, 67 pts, 19GR

13. Anaheim Ducks, 67 pts, 19GR

There is still a lot of hockey to play, so this picture will surely change in many ways, but whether they're from this group or not, five good hockey teams won't be playing playoff hockey. As unsettling as the thought is of Detroit possibly being one of them, it surely makes for an exciting stretch, something not seen for many years for a Red Wings fan.