Wings will miss Mule
The Detroit Red Wings are in for a tough ride now that the injury to Johan Franzen has been confirmed. The “Mule” has torn his ACL and will be out of the Wings lineup for at least the next 4 months. This may be the biggest blow to the Red Wings season hopes as Franzen, who is an all-world marksman for Detroit, will leave their lineup void of a true pure-bred goal scorer.
Not to downplay the incredible top line that Detroit has, but the “Mule” was an absolute force that provided the Wings with a weapon that could be interchanged between the top two lines, a player that Mike Babcock could count on to help spread out his offense. Much like Alex Semin on the Washington Capitals, Franzen could alternate on and off of the top line, giving Babcock the option of spreading out the power over his top two lines, or to load up his top line, much like Boudreau does with Ovechkin-Backstrom and Semin at times.
Without this key player in the Red Wings lineup, this means that they will likely be out to play a very physical and tough game versus the Caps tonight.
With Franzen missing, the Wings have added Justin Abdelkader, Patrick Eaves and Brad May to the lineup. Although none of those players will see time on the Wings top two lines, they will bolster an already tough lineup and will be guaranteed to play some tough minutes versus the Caps top units.
The Caps and Wings are two of the top clubs in the NHL and it will be very exciting to watch how Detroit handles the responsibilities left behind by the Mule.
The Caps and Boudreau will serve themselves well by continuing to alter their lineup and the players they will send up against the most difficult defensive corps in the NHL. Although Detroit lost one of their top scorers, they still boast one of the most trying blue-lines to face in the NHL.
Here are the lineups for tonight’s game.
Lineups
Washington Capitals
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble
Semin-Morrison-Laich
Fehr-Steckel-Clark
Laing-Gordon-Bradley
Green-Morrisonn
Poti-Jurcina
Pothier-Sloan
*Theodore
Varlamov
*Theodore will start
Detroit Red Wings
Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Leino-Filpulla-Cleary
Bertuzzi-Abdelkader-Williams
Eaves-Draper-May
Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Stuart
Ericsson-Meech
Chris Osgood
Jimmy Howard
- Wings lineup as per
Ansar Khan of Mlive.com.
Game Notes
Back(strom) on top – Nicklas Backstrom has had a pretty nice four-game stretch to begin the season. The third-year pivot leads the NHL in points (10) and is tied for the league lead in assists (8) and plus-minus (+6). Backstrom is first NHL player with 10 points in his team's first four games since Martin Havlat accomplished the feat in 2006-07 with Chicago. Backstrom has company near the top of the NHL point list though, as linemates Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin each have nine points (5g-4a) after four games.
Fehr game? – Right wing Eric Fehr, who had surgeries on both shoulders this summer, has been activated from injured reserve and could make his season debut tonight at Detroit. After a 12-goal season a year ago, the 6’4”, 212-pound Fehr hopes to help add depth to a Washington offense that only has six goal scorers through four games. He’ll make his return after missing just four games because he was willing to have surgery on both shoulders at the same time – putting him in double slings for the summer.
Follow the leader –Center Nicklas Backstrom's two-goal game Thursday night against the New York Rangers vaulted him past linemate Alex Ovechkin and into the NHL scoring lead with 10 points. Backstrom also leads the NHL in assists (8) and plus/minus (tied, +6). He is the only NHLer in the last three seasons to post 10 points in his team's first four games (Martin Havlat was the last, in 2006-07 with Chicago).
Multiplication tables – Four Capitals players have combined for six multiple-goal games in the first four games of the season (Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, 2 each, Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Laich, 1 each). The Caps have had at least one player score two goals in each of the first four games. Washington is 23-0-2 the last 25 times Ovechkin has had a multiple-goal game, dating to a regulation loss on Nov. 30, 2007 (Bruce Boudreau's fifth game behind the bench).
Three for all –Three Capitals –Nicklas Backstrom, Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin –have at least a point in each game this year. Dating back to last year, they have regular-season point streaks of eight games (Backstrom, 2g-14a), six games (Laich, 6g-4a) and five games (Semin, 7g-5a).
Michigan men –Forwards Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison, Washington's two biggest offseason acquisitions, are probably more familiar with Joe Louis Arena than any of their teammates. Knuble was a 1991 draft pick of the Red Wings (fourth round) and spent three seasons in the organization, including playing with the 1997 and '98 Stanley Cup champions. Before that, both Knuble and Morrison spent four years at Michigan. They were teammates for two seasons (1993-94 and '94-95), during which time they won two Great Lakes Invitationals and one CCHA Tournament title at Joe Louis Arena.
Road warriors –This is Washington's third road game of the season, all against teams that posted at least 99 points last year. The Capitals are 1-0-1 so far and have the NHL co-leaders in road scoring (Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, six points each).
D for depth –All eight defensemen on the Capitals' roster have seen action through four games, although one, Tyler Sloan, played at forward. Seven of the eight have at least one assist (Jeff Schultz is the exception), although the defense as a group is still seeking its first goal.
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