WING THINGS
The Red Wings have won two straight at home for just the second time this season, and it didn’t come against easy opponents. The Wings won an exciting back and forth game against the Blackhawks on Wednesday night before beating the Canadiens who sit third in the Atlantic Division.
The Wings have won three of their last four at home and have one more game at The Joe before heading to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Tuesday Night.
Henrik Zetterberg continues to be the backbone of the team. The captain has five points in his last two games and dictates the play each time he’s on the ice. It sounds like a broken record carrying on about Zetterberg’s play on either side of the puck, however, it’s impossible not to notice the impact Z makes in every zone. Zetterberg consistently proves the old mantra that says the mark of a truly great player lies in that player’s ability to make others around him better. With the way the captain is racking up assists over the past two games, I’m fairly certain you could grab a fan out of the fifth row and Zetterberg could set him up for a goal at least once.
The Captain’s linemates have been clicking as well. Gustav Nyquist is riding a four game point streak in which he’s racked up three goals and three assists. Justin Abdelkader has also put up three points over the last two games. In case you haven’t been doing your math along the way, that’s 12 points for the top line over the last two games.
PANTHERS COME TO TOWN
The Florida Panthers come to The Joe tonight for the fourth of five meetings between the two teams this season. The Wings are 1-1-1 against the Panthers this year. The Panthers are second to last in the Atlantic Division and 5-4-1 in their last ten games. As the divisional race doesn’t seem to be loosening up any, tonight is as good of an opportunity as any to catch up to the Habs for the first Wild Card spot and put some distance between them and the seven other teams that are within two points of the Wings.
TURNING POINT?
When you look back retrospectively at a successful season often times there are defining games that mark a point in the season where a team turned things around and came together as a unit. Without getting to far ahead of myself, Wednesday’s win over the Blackhawks has the potential to be one of those defining games. Were the Wings perfect that night? Absolutely not (just ask Brendan Smith about that turnover that led to the Blackhawks tying goal). What made that win so significant is that the Wings battled to overcome obstacles that have led to losses earlier this season. Heading into the game, they were up against last year Stanley Cup Champs that beat them in OT of game seven. They were facing them on home ice, which hasn’t been too friendly to the Wings this year. Halfway through the first they were down 2-0. After 65 minutes of play, they were headed to a shootout, a format that the Wings have had trouble with all year up until recently. In spite of all these factors, the Wings came out on top to get two important points against their Original Six rival. Following that strong effort up with another big win against the Habs shows the momentum that the win against the Hawks generated and if they can carry it over to a win against the Panthers, it would be all the more significant.
PROJECTED LINES (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
RED WINGS
Nyquist - Zetterberg - Abdelkader Franzen - Helm - Alfredsson Jurco - Sheahan - Tatar Miller - Glendening - Eaves
Kronwall - Ericsson Quincey - DeKeyser Lashoff - Smith
Jonas Gustavsson (starting) Petr Mrazek
Injuries: Weiss, Howard, Andersson, Datsyuk
PANTHERS
Fleischmann – Bjugstad – Upshall Bergenheim – Gomez – Boyes Huberdeau – Goc – Winchester Matthias – Shore – Barch
Campbell – Gilbert Gudbranson – Jovanoski Kulikov – Weaver
Tim Thomas (starting) Scott Clemmensen
Injuries: Olsen, Petrovic, Barkov