WING THINGS
Johan Franzen might be saying it best when he said, “It’s tough to win without our big guys, but it’s important to know we can win without them…
At the beginning of this season there was a long stretch that the only players getting it done were Datsyuk and Zetterberg. While it’s nice to have such good player on your team producing, it’s a little unnerving thinking about what happens when they have an off-night.
With Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Helm, and Dekeyser out of the lineup, the Wings pulled together and proved that the recent outburst of secondary scoring wasn’t a fluke, but instead something that could be counted on, regardless of if the big guns are out there or not.
After a lack luster loss to the Flyers on Wednesday, the Wings righted the ship on Friday night against the New Jersey Devils.
Against Philly, the Wings failed to sustain pressure or convert on timely powerplay opportunities before allowing four goals in the third period and blow the two-goal lead.
Tomas Tatar showed some jam around the net and scored two goals and Johan Franzen blasted a shot from the left wing to the far corner on Steve Mason to put up the Red Wings tallies on the night.
Unfortunately those bright spots were the few points in the game where the Wings were winning battles and capitalizing on opportunities.
Through two periods, the Wings maintained the lead but to say that they controlled the game would be an exaggeration. It wasn’t all bad, but turnovers and an inability to set up in the offensive zone held them back from playing their game.
On Friday night, the Wings held the Devils to only 11 shots en route to a 3-1 victory. Gone was the struggle to sustain pressure, gone was the inability to control the play in the opposing end, and gone was the failure to capitalize on key chances.
Todd Bertuzzi’s return to the lineup was immediately apparent (just ask Cory Schneider). Big Bert set up shop at the top of the crease in the offensive end and stirred the pot the way he does best.
Tomas Tatar had his second consecutive multi point game and was strong on both sides of the puck. In the absence of two of the most talented two way players in the game, it’s important that the Detroit forwards play strong defensively and Tatar did just that.
Johan Franzen extended his point streak to six with his ninth goal of the season. The Mule got open at the perfect time to finish off the pretty passing play around the horn, started by Tatar outworking Devils d-man Andy Greene.
Jonas Gustavsson is making the goaltending decisions tough in HockeyTown. The Monster hasn’t lost in regulation in nine starts this season and made a save on Adam Henrique that’ll be shown on highlight reels for the rest of the year. Despite only facing 11 shots, Gus came up big when he needed to and kept the game close before the Wings were able to get the lead.
TONIGHT’S GAME
Stephan Weiss’ old team comes into The Joe tonight coming off of a win against Winnipeg that snapped a three game losing streak. The Panthers (8-16-5) have struggled to score this season and average only 2.21 goals per game, third last in the league.
Against Winnipeg, the Panthers came back to score four unanswered goals after allowing the Jets to score the first goal. The Panthers will be looking to build off the come from behind victory against the Wings to earn their first victory of the year against a division rival.
The Panthers are not likely missing Stephen Weiss too much this season. Weiss has struggled with the Wings and has failed to find the back of the net since October 14th. With the added ice time due to the injury problems in Detroit, tonight would be a perfect night for Wiess to snap the slump.
PROJECTED LINES (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
RED WINGS
Nyquist – Franzen – Bertuzzi Abdelkader – Weiss – Alfredsson Miller – Andersson – Tatar Cleary – Emmerton – Samuelsson
Kronwall – Ericsson Quincy – Smith Kindl – Lashoff
Jonas Gustavsson (starting) Jimmy Howard
Injuries – Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Helm, DeKeyser
PANTHERS
Huberdeau – Bjugstad – Upshall Bergenheim – Barkov – Boyes Fleischmann – Goc – Kopecky Barch – Matthias – Hayes
Campbell – Gilbert Gudbranson – Olsen Kulikov – Weaver
Tim Thomas (starting) Scott Clemmenson
Injuries: Jovanovski, Gilroy