A Second Chance at 5th Place; Rings vs. Flyers Preview

After Saturday's disappointing overtime loss to the rival Nashville Predators, Detroit has a second chance to leapfrog Nashville today, with a win over Philadelphia.

The win will draw the Red Wings on even points with the Preds, but will sit ahead of them on points percentage, as Nashville will have played one more game than Detroit.

Chris Osgood will also be making his first start since January 27.

Wings Going for 5th in West; Red Wings vs. Predators

Not really any time for a verbal preview, so enjoy the pretty graphical summary. Go Wings!

The Playoff Picture in the West

Not too bad, Wings -- seven in a row. It wasn't too long ago the Wings weren't able to find a way to win three in a row, and now we await a visit from Nashville tomorrow, with a shot at our 8th consecutive win.

The Wings have received no help from the Predators of late, so don't expect any on Saturday. Despite having a scoring drought that lasted almost 200 minutes, Nashville still has not given up many points, with a stingy defense of their own. Unfortunately for them, Detroit refuses to give up any points and now sit in a commanding position to take and hold 5th spot in the West. Detroit sits one point behind the Preds with 2 games in hand.

The playoff race looks something like this:

		Pts	Games still to play
1	San Jose	104	5	@ MIN	@ COL	@ CGY	vs VAN	vs PHX
2	Chicago	101	6	@ NJD	vs CGY	@ DAL	vs STL	@ COL	vs DET
3	Vancouver	96	5	@ ANA	vs MIN	vs COL	@ SJS	vs CGY
4	Phoenix	100	4	vs EDM	vs NSH	@ LAK	@ SJS
5	Nashville	96	3	@ DET	@ PHX	vs STL
6	Detroit	95	5	vs NSH	@ PHI	vs CBJ	@ CBJ	@ CHI
7	Los Angeles	94	5	vs ANA	@ ANA	vs PHX	vs EDM	@ COL
8	Colorado	89	6	vs CGY	vs SJS	@ VAN	@ EDM	vs CHI	vs LAK
9	Calgary	87	5	@ COL	@ CHI	vs SJS	vs MIN	@ VAN

Looking back in the standings, it's beginning to look more and more like a worst-case scenario for Detroit is 7th. The Kings are hot on the trail with a big 8-3 victory over the Canucks last night, one point back with the same games played, but Colorado, who has one game in hand, trails by 6 points and Calgary trails by 8.

Shockingly, Detroit is still mathematically able to win the Central Division Championship, though the chances are very, very slim.

Also unlikely, but with improved odds, is the chance at seizing home-ice for the first round of the playoffs. Phoenix, who has played one more game than the Wings, has a 5 point advantage for fourth. Right now, these two teams seem destined to meet in the first round with Phoenix being the first team to hold home-ice over the Red Wings since Colorado in 2000. Wow, that's a crazy stat!

A big game tonight, albeit with limited effects on the Red Wings outlook, is the match between the Avs and Calgary. Right now Colorado has command over the 8th and final playoff spot in the West, but a win from the Flames would suddenly put huge pressure on Joe Sacco's team in Denver. The Avalanche would still remain 8th on wins and hold a game in hand, but every game from then on would be a danger game.

So, that's what I'll be watching tonight. While unofficial, the playoffs really have begun for many teams and the Flames seem to be facing the equivalent of a 3-0 series deficit if they lose to the Avs.

The only other game of real note for me, is the Blackhawks visit to New Jersey. A 'Hawks loss would increase that slim hope of grabbing the Division title at the 11th hour. Plus, it's nice to watch Chicago lose.

Spirit in the Second City: Wings 5, Hawks 4

These days, any time you enter the Blackhawks' home arena and get a win, you've done well. Detroit showed great character when defying the league's best defense with five 2nd period goals to set up the important victory.

The Chicago Blackhawks exited the ice after one period to a roaring ovation from their fans as they controlled the game for the majority of the period taking a 2-0 lead. The classy fans of Chi-town were extra boisterous with their "De-troit sucks!" chants at that point. As time went on, that roar was not so slowly muted.

The sold-out crowd went from delirious to hushed as they saw their team facing a 4-2 deficit by the 10:27 mark of the second. Two pairs of goals less than a minute apart seemed to 180 the complexion of the game, almost instantaneously.

Sparked by a 4 on 3 powerplay goal from Brian Rafalski, Detroit was on the board and quickly took control of the game. 28 seconds later, Nick Lidstrom got his 8th of the season. The second onslaught came five minutes later when Jason Williams put in a beautiful feed from Henrik Zetterberg followed by a tally from Valtteri Filppula 42 seconds later, prompting Joel Quenneville to remove Cristobal Huet from the net in favour of Antti Niemi. The game-winning came with 2.7 seconds left in the 2nd on a breakaway from Pavel Datsyuk who continue his hot-streak.

Chicago refused to die in the third as they clawed back to make the game interesting with two goals from Andrew Ladd. Jimmy Howard hung on for dear life and managed to resist the torrents of offense from the Hawks in the dying moments to get the win, 5-4.

The win moves Detroit 2 points closer to 7th place after a home loss to the Canucks for Nashville. The win was made doubly valuable as Calgary's win in Minnesota would've leap-frogged them over Detroit for 8th.

Duncan Keith was the other scorer for Chicago, while Andrew recorded his first career hat-trick.

The win was a great display of character from a team that just might have gained something form the adversities of the season. Facing a 2-0 deficit and almost going down a third had it not been for the benefit of a goalie-interference call, Detroit surged in the second period, looking like a team that wants to see playoff action this year.

The only significant negative for the day was Todd Bertuzzi's apparent knee injury sustained late in he 2nd period. No word yet on his status.

Detroit will now go for their third-straight victory -- something they are still yet to accomplish this year -- at home against Calgary, in another contest of monumental importance.