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After an important sweep of their final two games of their "first" Western Canadian trip of the season, the Detroit Red Wings return home for a "one-game" homestand against the Northwest Division leading
Minnesota Wild this evening in the NBC Sports Network "Rivalry Night" Game of the Week.
Tonight's contest is of significant importance given the difficult five-game stretch of games that follows to conclude the month of March. Consecutive back-to-back road contests against the reinforced Anaheim Ducks, a road game in Phoenix in the dreaded 3rd game in 4 nights situation (also 4th in 6 nights with travel), followed by a visit to the "Shark Tank" before concluding the month on Easter Sunday with an afternoon tilt on NBC against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Unlike past instances this season, the Red Wings are hoping to build on the momentum they gained in Edmonton & Vancouver instead of reverting to a string of losses. Their resurgence following that nightmare of a 3rd period in Calgary was due in large part to the play of
Pavel Datsyuk and
Henrik Zetterberg. Along with
Jimmy Howard, when the Red Wings top three players are playing at a high level, it certainly makes this team appear much more imposing. Add contributions from the likes of
Johan Franzen,
Valtteri Filppula,
Damien Brunner and even the much-maligned
Justin Abdelkader, provides the Red Wings with a glimmer of hope they can achieve some form of the offensive depth they were once renowned for having.
Minnesota, winners of three straight games and five of their last six, are coming off an impressive road victory on Monday night in Vancouver, against their division rival who they are fighting it out for the Northwest division lead. However, this should be an ideal spot for the Red Wings to catch the Wild in that difficult travel spot known all too well by the Red Wings. After defeating Vancouver early Tuesday morning (12:35 AM EDT), the Wild must adjust to a new time zone after crossing a large part of the continent on Tuesday with only one days' rest.
Meanwhile, the Red Wings have been resting at home since returning from Vancouver on Sunday. It is certainly an ideal spot for Detroit to take advantage of a team in a position the Red Wings were notorious for playing poorly in.
The injury bug has reared its ugly head once again for the Red Wings as
Kyle Quincey's fractured cheekbone suffered in Edmonton is likely to keep him out of the lineup for 4-6 weeks. This morning,
Patrick Eaves did not participate in the morning skate and was listed as day-to-day after taking a puck to the face in practice yesterday. The resulting "sprained joints" in his jaw, could leave him out of the lineup for more than just tonight's contest. As a result,
Gustav Nyquist was recalled from Grand Rapids and will be in the lineup this evening for Detroit.
Mikael Samuelsson is skating on his own and will accompany the team to California in the hopes he might be ready in a week's time.
Carlo Colaiacovo also feels his return is imminent and is hoping Babcock gives him a shot to return to the lineup during the upcoming road trip.
The goaltender matchup this evening will be
Niklas Backstrom (14-7-2, 2.34 GAA, .915 save percentage) for Minnesota versus
Jimmy Howard (12-7-4, 2.42 GAA, .917 save percentage).
Puck drop is at 7:30 PM ET on the NBC Sports Network (TSN 2 in Canada).
DETROIT EXPECTED LINE COMBINATIONS
Abdelkader-Datsyuk-Franzen
Filppula-Zetterberg-Brunner
Nyquist-Andersson-Cleary
Miller-Emmerton-Tootoo
Kronwall-Ericsson
Kindl-Lashoff
Smith-White
Howard
(Gustavsson)
************************************************************************
Trade speculation continues to pickup as the April 3rd deadline nears. With the negative news surrounding
Darren Helm's setback Monday while skating. Helm had been practicing with the team and was hopeful to return prior to the end of the month at the latest.
It's becoming frustratingly clear that both Helm and Bertuzzi at this stage are not likely to return anytime soon. In particular, Bertuzzi hasn't been able to skate since early February. A decision regarding Bertuzzi's back will be made likely by the weekend but it appears he may require surgery, which would write him off for the season and quite possibly conclude his career.
As a result, GM Ken Holland's activity prior to the trade deadline could increase if he hopes to find a proper winger to play alongside
Pavel Datsyuk, in place of
Justin Abdelkader.
To be fair, Abdelkader works hard and was finally rewarded for his net presence and driving the net with two "greasy" goals Saturday night in Vancouver. Nevertheless, if the Red Wings want to not only make the postseason but also enhance their likelihood of making an extended playoff run, they might be looking to acquire a potential top-six forward.
The common notion has become that the most likely potential trade partners for the Red Wings might exist in the Western Conference, given Detroit's move to the East next season. This consideration along with the fact rumors out of San Jose indicate that GM Doug Wilson might be contemplating making wholesale changes with his Sharks roster. Names like
Patrick Marleau,
Ryane Clowe and even veteran rearguard
Dan Boyle have been mentioned as potential trade pieces if Wilson is looking to reshape his roster. The relationship between
Todd MacLellan and the Red Wings may help ease facilitate a deal given MacLellan's strong knowledge of the players on Detroit's roster and prospects within the system.
With the need for St. Louis to re-sign a number of Restricted Free Agents this summer,
Chris Stewart has been identified as the potential odd man out and forward the Blues may look to move in order to accomodate the re-signing of
Alex Pietrangelo and
Kevin Shattenkirk on the blueline, along with
Patrik Berglund up front.
Stay tuned!
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