WING THINGS
The Red Wings (9-5-3) face a tough opponent as the division leading Tampa Bay Lightning (11-4-0) visit the Joe tonight. A win, paired with a loss from the Maple Leafs in Boston will put the Wings at the top of the Atlantic Division. A loss, along with a few other things happening could put them in the top wild card spot in the east.
I know it’s FAR too early to be talking about things in terms of playoff position but looking at the standings today got me thinking about how different this year will be leading into the playoffs…
The Lightning come to town with Steven Stamkos on a 5 game goal streak. He’s notched 6 goals and added a helper in the last two weeks. The Wings will obviously need to keep the sniper at bay to get two points tonight.
Valtteri Filppula returns to the city that gave him his NHL start. The Red Wings have missed Filppula (and the 251 points he scored for the Wings) this season and so far in Tampa, he is off to a great start.
The Red Wings played a tight game against the Stars on Thursday but will have a slightly different look tonight with Stephen Weiss out of the lineup due to injury (groin), as well as Johan Franzen still out due to illness.
Adam Almquist was sent back down to Grand Rapids after scoring his first NHL goal against the Stars. Luke Glendening and Xavier Ouellet have both been recalled from the Griffins.
Darren Helm has been bumped up to the second line in Stephen Weiss’ absence. Helm has played well since returning from injury three games ago and the extra ice time should be a good test. His speed could be dangerous with Alfredsson setting him up.
The Red Wings website reports tonight’s starting lineup as follows:
Zetterberg – Datsyuk – Bertuzzi Tatar – Helm – Alfredsson Miller – Andersson – Abdelkader Eaves – Glendening – Cleary
Kronwall – Dekeyser Lashoff – Kindl Quincy – Ouellet
Howard
More to come after the game!