The Wings (12-11-5) are host to the Blues (14-10-5) tonight at Joe Louis Arena. It is the fourth of six matchups on the season for the two Central Division rivals, and St. Louis leads the series 2-0-1. Detroit is coming off an emotional win in New York and earned three of a possible four points on a previous two-game road trip that also included a shootout loss to New Jersey. The Wings will begin a five-game stretch tonight that will include four in Detroit. Normally this would be considered a good thing, but they have gone just 1-4-1 in their last six home games, and St. Louis is 6-2-3 on the road this season.
Jimmy Howard will get another start in net after his stellar debut performance at Madison Square Garden. If Howard shows another strong performance and earns another win, expect to hear more about him becoming the desired starting goaltender over the struggling Chris Osgood.
Tonight's Lineups
Coach Mike Babcock's lines will look similar to what he presented at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers, which means Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk along with Tomas Holmstrom will spend more time together during even strength situations. It was interesting and slightly shocking to see Justin Abdelkader's #8 jersey on the ice with the second line in New York, but he was effective centering Todd Bertuzzi and Dan Cleary. With three goals and five points, the 22-year-old rookie has been sure-skated and steady for the Wings this season and his confidence continues to grow. Abdelkader is looking forward to another opportunity to play on a top line.
“I have confidence in myself that I can play with those guys and keep up and skate with them,” Abdelkader said. “The best part is I don’t really have to change too much. Just kind of play the same type of game.
As long as Pav and Hank are skating together, look for the rook to grab more ice time on that second line. The speedy third line of center Darren Helm and wingers Kris Draper and Patrick Eaves will remain intact. The productive trio have a combined 11 goals and 27 points on the season. As long as Abdelkader remains up, Drew Miller will get opportunities to center the grinding fourth line with Brad May and Kirk Maltby.
Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski will be paired together as Detroit's top defensive unit and will hopefully encourage the offense with their dual point shots from the blue line. Lidstrom is coming off a two-assist performance in New York, and Rafalski is finding his rhythm after missing two games with a sore back. Brett Lebda will move up to skate with Brad Stuart as Jonathan Ericsson moves down to skate with Derek Meech. Ericsson's demotion surely has something to do with his poor performance against the Rangers, though Lebda has been playing much better of late. He has a quick step and good instincts in the offensive zone if Babcock needs him on the power play.
O Leino, Where Art Thou?
Ville Leino has lost his way. Expectations probably could not have been any higher for this guy heading into the season. He was supposed to pick up the scoring slack left by the departure of Jiri Hudler, but instead has struggled to find a role on any given line. The Fin was quite flashy a season ago when he scored an amazing turnaround goal in his first NHL game and netted five goals and nine points with a plus-five rating in 13 games. He has just three goals and five points with a minus-eight in 27 games this season. He only has two points in his last 19. Babcock scratched the struggling winger once earlier in the season, then again in New York, and tonight will make the it three total and two games in a row. Here is what Babcock had to say before the game against the Rangers:
“I don’t know if it’s a message,” coach Mike Babcock said. “The bottom line is we went through it today, talked about. It’s about trying to win, so we dressed the best guys.”
Maybe it's me, but Leino sounded a little nonchalant about the subject:
“It’s never fun to be off the ice, especially now,” Leino said. “Obviously, you want to be a part of the group. But something had to be done and I guess it was my turn to be out.”
No no no, Leino, you do not take turns sitting out anymore. Turns are reserved for gym class and pee-wees. If you are supposed to be an every day starter and you are sitting out healthy for the third time in 30 games, it is because you have been playing like crap and your coach took notice.
“From the past, I noticed when you got tough going you just got to get going,” Leino said. “It’s all about mental toughness in this league. You just want to try to get through it and do your best and, hopefully, it gets you tougher.”
Yeah...mental toughness...that and skating, you know, moving your feet. Leino forgets to move his legs when he gets the puck and defenders in the NHL routinely make players pay when they stop skating and start coasting. This isn't baseball, his third strike does not make him out, but it might result in him handling towels rather than pucks on a more regular basis. Hopefully Leino will take this time off to reflect, wash away prior transgressions and struggles, and rediscover the right path to the back of the net.One Fin Out, Another Fin Still Out (But Getting Closer)
Good news from the injury front! Leino's countryman, Valtteri Filppula, took a big step towards rejoining the active roster by having the cast removed from his broken wrist on Sunday. Filppula sustained the injury when he was checked awkwardly into the boards in Edmonton way back on October 29. At the time of the injury, Filp was centering the Wings' second line along with Jason Williams and Leino. The line did not produce a bunch of goals, but they generated a ton of chances and were considered Detroit's best line game in and game out.
Filppula has already resumed skating with a splint on his wrist, but it will still be a little while before he fully returns.
"Got to get the strength back first, then I can start stick-handling and do other stuff on the ice,'' Filppula said. "I think I’m pretty much on track. It’s going to take a while, but hopefully not too long. It’s really stiff, so I have to be patient with it.''
Look for Filppula to see game action later this month if his rehab time goes as scheduled.
Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment