Osgood Seeks #400 Against Blues

Take 2.

After the disaster that befell him against the Stars a few games ago, Chris Osgood gets his second opportunity at reaching the illustrious career milestone of 400 wins. He'll have to get the win however, with a forward line that will be missing its primary component -- Pavel Datsyuk.

Datsyuk was injured in the first period of the Wings' overtime win against the Canucks last night and isn't expected to return for another 4 weeks while he nurses his broken hand. On the bright side, this provides someone with an opportunity to step it up and show they are a top 6 forward. Jiri Hudler, I'm looking at you!

Frankly, Happy Hudler has had a DOG of a season so far (1g, 5a, -7). We've always known he has the skills and the intuition for finding the net, but this season not so much. Why? The only thing I can think, is confidence.

It was a slow start to the season that provided the snowball. That snowball seems to have been growing exponentially to avalanche-like proportions to the point where Hudler seems to be consistently making the wrong decisions with the puck. He's reverted to a "pass-first" mentality which oftentimes, has been his downfall. He also seems to be lingering out of the hotspots he had such a knack for finding in the past. I recall one instance against the Canucks where a big rebound came out to the circle with no defenders around and Hudler skated up from the blueline only to get into a battle for the puck. At that moment I thought, "Two years ago Hudler would've been in position to one-time that one." But sometimes all it takes it one solid game, and all this uncharacteristic play by Hudler will fall by the wayside.

There haven't really been too many hot hands for the Wings of late. Infact, Pavel Datsyuk had been Detroit's most consistent scorer throughout December. But worth mentioning, is the field day Nick Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg had 8 days ago against the Blues. Zetterberg notching up 4 assists with Lidstrom adding an assist to the first ever hat-trick of his incredible career. No doubt the play of this pair will weigh heavily in the minds of the Blues when in their own zone.

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.

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.

Preview vs. San Jose; Kronwall out

After a grueling and, at times, disheartening road trip, the Red Wings return home with a chance to sweep a season series against the Western Conference-leading San Jose Sharks and turn momentum to their favour heading into the Olympic break. Detroit's bid to get back into the playoff picture may be boosted by the addition of Tomas Holmstrom into the lineup.

"It was a big difference from yesterday to today,'' Holmstrom said. "It's going to be a big test for sure. I need to get these games. It's going to be a tough one for sure, but I may as well get into it right away.''

Brad May will skate in the pre-game warmups as a back-up should Holmstrom be unfit to action. Homer is recovering from a bruised left knee he sustained in Los Angeles last week.

Niklas Kronwall is also being troubled with knee problems. Since suffering a realtively minor sprain in November, he has had difficulty returning to full health and, although the condition of his knee is reported to be improving, he has been ruled out for tonight's clash with the Sharks.

"It feels better today than yesterday, so I'm taking a step in the right direction,'' Kronwall said.

Detroit will need to be at their best tonight after a less than impressive outing against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. They'll look to take advantage of a travelling road team, as the Sharks are on the second of back-to-back games tonight after a 3-0 shutout loss to Steve Mason and the Blue Jackets. Wings' fans might also take heart in knowing that in the 3 previous meetings this season between these two rivals, a much more undermanned Detroit team has won all three, two of them fairly easily.

Jimmy Howard is expected to start in goal once again.