Game Two: Red Wings vs. Sharks Preview

Game One was a disappointing opening to the Western Conference Semi-Finals for Detroit. Preventing the 3-goal onslaught mid-way through the first period or having a few correctly made calls from the officials might have seen the Wings with a 1-0 lead instead of a deficit. Regardless, the opening to the Quarter-Finals with Phoenix was also a disappointment and we all know how that series ended up.

According to Sharks' head coach Todd McLellan, Patrick Marleau, who missed Game 1 with flu-like symptoms, will play in Game Two. The Sharks went 2/6 on the powerplay in Game One without Patrick Marleau, so Detroit will need to be stellar when down a man in Game Two, to have a chance at tying the series.

Jimmy Howard wasn't awful on Thursday, but has definitely had better games and will look to bounce back after the loss. In his short playoff season, he has bounced back with a win after all of his first three losses.

The first Scary Pair for this game is Henrik Zetterberg with Pavel Datsyuk. Trailing most of the game we saw Mike Babcock turn to this tandem to spark some offense later on. The pair was unable to create anything but during the regular season they teamed up for a goal once every 36 minutes.

The second Scary Pair is Dan Cleary and Valtteri Filppula. Like the first, this pair hasn't played much together of late, but their play together during the regular season cannot be ignored. Cleary has more hook-ups with Filppula than any other team-mate and the reverse is also true for Flip, who shares 8 hook-ups with his SP partner. Cleary was held pointless by the Coyotes, but got his first playoff point of 2010 in Game One, with the Wings opening goal in the first period. Hopefully, Cleary can build on his maiden tally of the postseason -- the Wings will need it.