GAME DAY @ NYI
The Red Wings (12-7-7) take on the New York Islanders (8-14-3) in a rare 5pm start at the Nassau Coliseum tonight. The Wings are looking to put together a three game win streak for the first time since November 2nd. The Isles, on the other hand haven’t won since their shootout win against the Red Wings on November 16th.
WINGS v. BRUINS RECAP
The Red Wings went into Wednesday’s game against the conference-leading Bruins needing to prove that they could get wins against the top teams in the league.
After going winless in seven games, the Wing’s finally snapped their drought against the very average Carolina Hurricanes, and then added another, two games later against the abysmal Sabres. Prior to the Bruins game, the Wings had not had a win against a team in the top half of their respective conference since beating the Avalanche on October 17th.
The game against the Bruins stayed tight until halfway through the second period when the Wings scored two goals in a minute and fourteen seconds to take a 4-0 lead.
Jonas Gustavsson improved his record to 7-0-1 this season. Despite only having to make 16 saves, Gustavsson made several key saves in the first half of the game, before the Red Wings offense exploded, to keep the game tight. The Bruins ruined The Monster’s shutout bid with only 2:25 remaining in the third period.
Nyquist, Tatar, Andersson, Zetterberg, and Kronwall all finished the game with two points, while Franzen continued his hot streak by adding three assists to bring his point total to 16 on the season.
In the absence of Pavel Datsyuk, the Red Wings’ secondary scoring stepped up to fill the void. Gustav Nyquist had a strong game notching a goal and an assist and Joakim Andersson had one of his best games of the year, going 10 for 15 (66.7%) in the faceoff circle and getting two assists.
The Wings limited the Bruins to only 17 shots on net and controlled the play along the boards to dominate the conference leaders in every zone.
The win against the Bruins was an important one as the Wings try and regain the form they found briefly on their Western Canada road trip a month ago. Heading to Long Island, the Wings need to build upon their success and win a game against a struggling team that, for some reason, has had their number over the last ten years.
RED WINGS PREVIEW
Not much should change from last game except for Jimmy Howard getting the start in goal. Howard has struggled lately however it’s difficult to place the blame entirely on his shoulders. Howard has a record of 5-7-6 and is currently on a career-worst seven game winless streak.
Daniel Alfredsson missed out on the offensive outburst against Boston and will be looking to get going before he makes his long anticipated return to Ottawa. He has 16 points (4G 12A) in 21 games this year and three points in his last three games.
The Wings powerplay has been strong so far this season (22.1%, ranked 6th in the NHL) yet they haven’t been so hot on the road with the man advantage. Away from The Joe, the Wings have only converted five powerplay goals in 30 opportunities for a pedestrian 16.7%.
ISLANDERS PREVIEW
The Isles are last in the Metropolitan Division and haven’t won since they bested the Red Wings in a shootout on November 16th. The Islanders have won five straight games against the Red Wings and have not lost in regulation to the Winged Wheel since Black Friday in 2003.
Jonathan Tavares has points in eight of his last nine games and will need to continue to carry the Isles if they have a chance to win tonight. Thomas Vanek has seven points in nine games since being traded from the Sabres.
Tonight is “Superhero Night… at Nassau Coliseum. Based on their place in the standings, the Isles may want to recruit Wolverine or Captain America to play or at least see if Tony Stark can build some stopping power into Kevin Poulin’s goalie equipment.
PROJECTED LINES
RED WINGS
Franzen – Zetterberg – Nyquist Abdelkader – Helm – Alfredsson Miller – Andersson – Tatar Cleary – Weiss - Samuelsson
Kronwall – Ericsson Quincey – Smith Kindl – Lashoff
Jimmy Howard (Starting) Jonas Gustavsson
Injuries: DeKeyser (shoulder), Datsyuk (upper body), Bertuzzi (upper body)
ISLANDERS
Vanek – Tavares – Okposo Grabner – Nielsen – Bailey Nelson – Regin – Clutterbuck Martin – Cizikas – Bouchard
MacDonald – Hamonic Martinek – Ness Donovan – Carkner
Kevin Poulin (Starting) Anders Nilsson
Injuries: Visnovsky, Streit, Nabokov, Hickey