GAME DAY
The Red Wings (14-7-7) will host the Philadelphia Flyers (12-13-2) at Joe Louis Arena tonight at 8pm. The Flyers are coming off a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Minnesota Wild Monday and are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games after an awful start to the season.
ALFIE’S RETURN
The lead-up to Daniel Alfredsson’s return to Ottawa was exactly the over-hyped media frenzy that one would expect and in the end, Alfie and the Wings came out on top.
The Senators honored their former captain with a pregame video tribute during which the fans chanted “ALFIE! ALFIE!… Once the game had started, the love for the 40 year old Swede shifted to the home team and by the second period the boo birds were out when Alfredsson touched the puck.
The story of Alfredsson’s return in many ways overshadowed what was a big win for the Wings. They finally won against the Sens, who had beaten them in their first two meetings of the season and the Wings extended their winning streak to four games.
Drew Miller scored two goals which double his total for the season. Johan Franzen scored, and has seven points (2G, 5A) in his last four games.
Jonas Gustavsson was strong between the pipes and picked up his seventh win of the season and has yet to lose in regulation this year.
RED WINGS PREVIEW
The Wings will be without four of their top five starters Wednesday night at The Joe but a surge in secondary scoring should keep them confident against a Flyers team that is trying to turn their season around.
The win in Ottawa was an important one to put the Alfredsson story to rest and earn a win against a division rival that has had their number so far this year. The Wings were perfect on the penalty kill and limited chances all night by blocking 21 shots.
One key to victory against the Flyers will be getting on the board early. The Flyers are 1-10-1 when the opposing team scores first. To further that point, limiting the Flyers chances at any time of the game will be key.
The Flyers struggled early in the season but defensively they have been strong allowing only 1.44 goals per game in five on five situations. In short, in games where the Flyers have been able to score, they are winning. The depth of the Red Wings’ forward lines will be tested without Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and Todd Bertuzzi. Cory Emmerton has been called up from Grand rapids to help fill the void left by the top trio.
Stephen Weiss will likely be making the jump from the fourth line to the first tonight. In 22 games this season, Weiss has just three points (2G,1A) and has not nearly come close to justifying his massive contract. With the top line out, Weiss needs to start to stand out.
FLYERS PREVIEW
After a loss in Minnesota that gave many fans a flashback to the start of the season, the Flyers will look to relocate the scoring touch that they seemed to have found over the past few weeks.
Claude Giroux has 11 points in his last 12 games after a terrible start to the season in which he was held without a goal in his first 15 games.
Brayden Schenn is second in team scoring with 15 points but has only one assist in his last five games.
The Flyers started the season off with only three wins in October but have since begun to turn things around. In November the Flyers went 9-4-1 and a win against the Red Wings tonight could pull them alongside the Rangers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Whether you credit the change in fortune to the coaching change or scorers finally scoring, this Flyers team is a very different team than the one that the Red Wings faced in October.
Look for the Flyers to create traffic and score some ugly goals tonight as they look for a much needed two points. Though it’s still early in the season, the Flyers haven’t quite erased the effects of that awful start and every game is a must win.
PROJECTED LINES (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
RED WINGS
Franzen – Weiss – Nyquist Abdelkader – Helm – Alfredsson Miller – Andersson – Tatar Cleary –Emmerton- Samuelsson
Kronwall – Ericsson Quincey – Smith Kindl – Lashoff
Jimmy Howard (starting) Jonas Gustavsson
Injuries: DeKeyser (shoulder), Datsyuk (upper body), Bertuzzi (upper body), Zetterberg (back)
FLYERS
Hartnell – Giroux – Voracek Raffl – Brayden Schenn – Simmonds Read – Couturier – Downie Rosehill – Hall – Rinaldo
Timonen – Coburn Streit – Grossman Luke Schenn – Meszaros
Steve Mason (starting) Ray Emery
Injuries: Vincent Lecavlier (day-to-day)