Twelve Games In

With yesterdays game against Los Angeles, Detroit is now twelve games, or 25% of the way, into this shortened season. The Red Wings have had a pretty mediocre start to this season, but are currently on a 3 game win streak and as a result sit in 5 place in the Western Conference with a 7-4-1 record. Let's take a look at Detroit's season so far.

Game 1: Detroit @ St. Louis (Loss 6-0) (0-1-0)

Detroit was crushed in their season opener. Not only did they get shut-out they only managed a paltry 14 shots. Rookie sensation Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice for the Blues in his NHL debut. David Backes was a human wrecking ball and exposed the Red Wings' lack of size on their first line of Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Brunner. The best Detroit had to offer in this game was Brunner and Filppula who both recorded 3 shots. Though Detroit was flat in this game props must be given to the Blues who played excellent to open their season.

Game 2: Detroit @ Columbus (Win 4-3 SO) (1-1-0)

With injuries mounting up Detroit called up Defense rookie Brian Lashoff who scored Detroit's first goal of the season with a beautiful slap shot from the point. Johan Franzen weaved through the Blue Jackets and centred the puck to White who one-timed the puck passed Bobrovsky. With a 2-0 lead things were looking up for Detroit after the loss to St. Louis, but then Columbus scored 3 goals in a row -- 2 on the Power Play. Datsyuk would tie the game late in the 3rd period off of a some excellent grinding by Zetterberg who burst through Blue Jacket defenders along the boards and dished the puck to Kronwall who tapped it back to Datsyuk who buried it in the wide open net.

Brunner's "Datsyukian" Shoot-out Winner.

Damien Brunner showed the League his amazing skills paying homage to Pavel Datsyuk using his famous shoot-out move to win the game in the 4th round of the shoot-out.

This game was a nail biter but any way you look at it a win is a win and it looked as if Detroit's top guns were coming together. 

Jordin Tootoo also made his presence felt fighting right off the opening face-off, despite losing the fight his energy was much appreciated and this sort of fighting spirit has been missing from the Wings' lineup in recent years.

Oft-injured D-man Carlo Colaiacovo was injured in this game and has remained sidelined with a shoulder injury as a result of a collision in the 2nd period.

Game 3: Dallas @ Detroit (Loss 2-1) (1-2-0)

Detroit once again looked flat, and failed to convert on 4 power play opportunities in this contest. Perhaps it was a bit ironic that Detroit honoured the recently retired Tomas Holmstrom before this game, who made a career as being an effective "net-front-presence" on the power play. Michael Ryder scored 2 goals for the Stars and Damien Brunner ruined Lehtonen's shut-out with 3.4 seconds left. This was a tough loss as Detroit did manage to get 40 shots but were stoned cold by Kari Lehtonen.

Detroit signed veteran defenseman Kent Huskins to the lineup to cope with the injured Colaiacovo and they called up Gustav Nyquist from the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Game 4: Minnesota @ Detroit (Win 5-3) (2-2-0)

This was a satisfy win for Detroit, especially since the new-look Wild were supposed to be a wrecking crew in the Western Conference this year. Detroit also scored their first power play goal of the season via a Damien Brunner wrist shot. Todd Bertuzzi who recently returned from the flu tipped in a Filppula shot to put up Detroit 2-0. Minnesota would even the game up at 2 but Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk would both add goals to end the 2nd period. Todd Bertuzzi potted his 2nd goal of the game early in the third period to make it 5-2, but Zach Parise would score his second of the game to get to the 5-3 final.

Jordin Tootoo again made his presence felt with a fight in this game as well, making Detroit undefeated when Tootoo fights.

Game 5: Detroit @ Chicago (Loss 2-1 OT) (2-2-1)

Chicago extended it's winning streak to 6 games from Nick Leddy's OT Goal. Johan Franzen would score his first of the season in this game from Brunner and Zetterberg, who now comprise the Wings top line.

Game 6: Dallas @ Detroit (Win 4-1) (3-2-1)

This game was a big win as Detroit redeemed itself against from their earlier game against Dallas. Filppulla would pot his first goal of the season off of a Datsyuk pass to tie the game at 1. Zetterberg would slap in his 2nd goal of the year on the power play off of a Patrick Eaves pass. This was Patrick Eaves first point in quite sometime as he has sat out quite some time with post-concussion syndrome.

Game 7: St. Louis @ Detroit (Win 5-3) (4-2-1)

This win was marred with a blown call by the refs. A match penalty was assessed to David Backes for a "hit-to-the-head" on Kent Huskins. The hit was hard and clean, but it did cause Huskins' head to snap back causing the ref to kick Backes out of the game. On the ensuing power play, Datsyuk scored the go-ahead goal by absolutely sniping the puck past the St. Louis goaltender. With 13 seconds left Henrik Zetterberg would complete his hat-rick with one of the most beautiful empty net goals I have ever seen. Zetterberg finished the game with 3 goals and 2 assists, getting in on each of Detroit's 5 goals.

It was an excellent effort by Detroit's new captain, avenging the season opener loss. Counting on Zetterberg to dig deep when it counts is exactly what the Red Wings need from their captain. 

Game 8: Detroit @ Columbus (Loss 4-2) (4-3-1)

Just as the Red Wings were gaining momentum they shouldered this loss to the Blue Jackets. Jimmy Howard was very critical of his play in this contest calling the 2nd Columbus goal "absolute garbage".

Damien Brunner added his 4th goal of the season, once again in meaningless fashion late in the game with 27 seconds left. It was a beautiful one-timer on a bouncing puck right off the face-off vial a Valtteri Filpulla face-off win. Brunner and Filpulla have both been playing exceptionally well in this shortened season. The Wings are in a new chapter of their franchise and are looking to these guys to be future stars of the team.

Game 9: Calgary @ Detroit (Loss 4-1) (4-4-1)

Once again Detroit put up a disappointing loss. Detroit was clinging to 8th place before this game and playing the Western Conference's worst team this game should have been a good way for Detroit to strengthen their spot in the standings. However they dropped this game and dropped out of the playoff spots. Now its still early and Detroit has a few games in hand over teams ahead of them but they really need to start winning games like these if they want to have a successful season. 

Johan Franzen scored the lone goal for the Wings for his 3rd of the season.

Game 10: Detroit @ St. Louis (Win 5-1) (5-4-1)

The story of this game was Petr Mrazek getting his first NHL start in net and after Detroit's season opener shelling it was clear Detroit was throwing Mrazek into the fire. Mrazek responded excellently stopping 26 of the 27 shots he faced, and he stopped all 23 even strength shots he faced only letting in a lone power-play goal. The Red Wings got a lot out of their 3rd and 4th lines this games with Cleary, Kindl, and Emmerton scoring the first 3 goals. Damien Brunner and Valtteri Filpulla continued their great seasons by also adding goals.

Game 11: Edmonton @ Detroit (Win 3-2) (6-4-1)
On Hockey Day In Canada the 6 other Canadian teams squared off with each other and this left Edmonton as the odd man out as they travelled to the Joe Louis Arena to face the Wings. The offense on both sides of the ice were firing on all cylinders but the goaltenders at each end in Jimmy Howard and Nikolai Khabibulin rose to the challenge and stopped all even strength shots. Detroit's power-play clicked better than the Oilers and they converted twice via Datsyuk and Kronwall goals to out muster Justin Schultz's goal for the Oilers.

Game 12: Los Angeles @ Detroit (Win 3-2) (7-4-1)

Jimmy Howard played another superb game stopping 45 of 47 shots posting a 0.957 SV%. Datsyuk would pot the first goal on the power-play and Damien Brunner would score the second off of a Zetterberg pass to make it 2-0. However, LA would answer with an Anze Kopitar goal late in the first to cut the lead to 1. Jimmy Howard held Detroit in this one until the last minute of play when Alec Martinez backhanded the puck past Howard with 53 seconds left to play tying the game up at 2 a piece.  Despite this late comeback Jonathan Ericsson would spoil the Kings' comeback by slapping the puck past Quick with 5 seconds left in regulation to put the Wings up 3-2.

Henrik Zetterberg's 2 assists in this contest now put him at 13 on the season, good enough for 5th in the league.

***

Detroit's paltry star could be chalked up to either a new look team with no training camp, or a multitude of injuries but the way things have been going as of late it looks like the Wings are starting to shake off some of the rust . They aren't doing horrible but when they do lose they seem to play quite flat.

A Look at the Red Wings Lineup for 2013

Last week a post on NHL.com released the Red Wings' new starting lineup (link).DailyFaceoff.com also adds some thought as to what Detroit's Defense situation could be (link). Here is what the Wings' line-up will look like this season.

Datsyuk and Zetterberg will be re-united.

Forwards (LW-C-RW)

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Brunner 

Samuelsson-Filppula-Franzen

Bertuzzi-Helm-Cleary 

Miller-Abdelkader-Tootoo 

Defense

Kronwall-Ericsson

Quincey-Smith

Colaiacovo-White

Kindl

Goalies

Howard

Gustavsson

Forwards

Brunner will debut on the top line

The Wings are reuniting the Euro Twins putting Zetterberg on Datsyuk's wing and adding Swiss sensation Damien Brunner for the first line. Brunner has represented Switzerland at the 2010 IIHF World Championships and has played for EV Zug in the Nationalliga A (the top league in Switzerland) where he tallied 60 pts in 45 games last season. During the NHL Lockout Brunner played on EV Zug with Henrik Zetterberg and Edmonton Oiler's prospect Linus Omark. Brunner lead the Swiss league in scoring with 50 points in 28 games. Brunner has clearly had a lot of success in Switzerland and this has earned him a top spot on the roster with Zetterberg and Datsyuk. It will be interesting to see how Brunner fairs in the NHL. The one thing that might raise eyebrows about this line is the lack of size. Last year Datsyuk struggled a bit until Todd Bertuzzi was placed on his line and using his size gave Datsyuk space to work his magic.

By putting Zetterberg and Datsyuk back together it shows the confidence the Red Wings have placed in Valtteri Filppula. He is centering the 2nd line with Mikael Samuelsson and Johan Franzen on his wings. Filppula had a career best season last year tallying 66 pts in 81 games and during the lockout playing for his old team Jokerit in the SM-Liiga (Finland's top league) scoring 15 pts in 16 games. Filppula did suffer a knee injury but is expected to make the return for the first game. In the off-season Detroit re-acquired Mikael Samuelsson. Despite his age, Samuelsson can be seen as an upgrade over Jiri Hudler who departed to Calgary. Both have hard shots but Samuelsson has the size that Hudler lacks and will be much harder to push around. Franzen has been the Wings most enigmatic player in the last few seasons, and in this shortened season he can't stay off the scoresheet for weeks at a time.

The third line of Bertuzzi, Helm, and Cleary is an interesting one. Bertuzzi and Cleary had some good chemistry last year when they played together and with Helm's speed added to the mix this 3rd line could end up potting a nice amount of goals. Helm has been hampered my injuries recently and currently is Day-to-Day with a groin injury. Helm missed 14 games last year and looked much slower in the playoff series against Nashville. Bertuzzi and Cleary aren't know for their speed and for this line to work having Helm's speed is integral to its success.

Tootoo adds tenacity to this line-up

Detroit's 4th line of Miller, Abdelkader, and Tootoo is reminiscent of the Grind Line of Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, and Darren McCarty who helped the Red Wings win 4 Stanley Cups. Abdelkader and Tootoo are both scrappy guys who are great at aggravating other team's players. Miller is a good hard working guy but word is that his spot will be the revolving door spot if Patrick Eaves gets healthy. Detroit has lacked a true checking line for a few seasons and this line clearly addresses that issue.

The biggest glaring omission from the line-up is the absence of Gustav Nyquist. Nyquist will start the season with the Grand Rapids Griffins but if Brunner can't translate his Swiss League success to the NHL or any injury takes out a top guy, Nyquist will surely be the first to get the call up. The argument for keeping Nyquist in the AHL is that the Red Wings don't want to squander his talent and development on the 3rd or 4th line of the Wings when they can give him quality minutes on the top line of the Griffins.

Defense

All eyes will be on Smith in his rookie season

With the departure of Nicklas Lidstrom and Brad Stuart (and Rafalski the year before that), Detroit's defense looks a bit shaky for the first time in 15 years. Niklas Kronwall is the team's only legit top pairing D-man and he will certainly have to take a step up in his play to be the leader of this D corps. The good thing Detroit has going for it is that Ericsson, Quincey, Smith, Colaiacovo, and White are all quality 2nd line D-men. Hopefully the lack of a true top pairing will be made up for by the depth of this blue-line. Brendan Smith tallied 7 pts in 14 games with the Wings last year and 20 pts in 32 games with the Griffins during the lock-out. At 23 years of age the Wings are really hoping Smith can step up his game over the next few seasons and become a top pairing D-man to play along with Kronwall. Recent acquisition Carlo Colaiacovo hasn't reached the potential that he was thought to possess mostly due to injures. If Carlo continues to have injury trouble this could hurt the depth of this Defense.

Goalies

Gustavsson looks for a fresh start in Motown 

Despite injuries Jimmy Howard managed to post his 3rd straight season with at least 35 wins and posted a 0.920 SV% last season. The big question is whether or not Howard's success was due to the solid Defense corpse lead by Nicklas Lidstrom. However, Howard is in a contract year with a hungry back-up goalie in Jonas Gustavsson sitting behind him Howard should be able to raise his game accordingly.

***

Detroit's Forward Lineup and Goaltending duo looks pretty solid but the big question with this team is how the Defense will fair. Detroit also has a lot of Forward and Goaltending prospects so there are some rumours that Detroit is trying to build its Defense through trades. All in all this line up looks like it can be successful but with the shortened 48 game season anything can happen.

Go Wings Go!

5 Detroit Games I'm Looking Forward to This Season

With the NHL Schedule finally released we can look at what lies ahead for the Red Wings this Season. With the schedule shortened to 48 games teams can not afford to take any nights off; this should make for some high intensity hockey. Unfortunately there will be no Cross-Conference match-ups but none the less there are a bunch of interesting games that you should be sure to clear your schedule for.

5) Saturday January 19: Detroit @ St. Louis

Carlo Colaiacovo will face his old team on January 19th

This lockout was unnecessary and though AHL, CHL, World Juniors, and Spengler Cup games may have scratched that itch for hockey nothing compares to the NHL. Detroit's first game this season they head to St. Louis for a big Divisional game.

4) Saturday February 9: Edmonton @ Detroit

February 9th is dubbed "Hockey Day in Canada" with the other 6 Canadian teams teeing off against each other, Edmonton was the odd-man out. Detroit will host the Edmonton Oilers and their young guns who have been tearing up the AHL.

3) Friday March 22nd & Sunday March 24: Detroit @ Anaheim, Detroit @ Anaheim

To elevate the strain from excessive travel in this shortened season the NHL has added some "Double Header" games. This is Detroit's only Double Header this season and I sure hope the intensity from the first game carries over in to the second. I hope that the NHL will carry on with this system next year because it would be nice to see bad blood boil over in Double Headers such as this.

2) Friday January 25: Minnesota @ Detroit

This is Detroit's 2nd home game of the season and with it they welcome the "New Look" Minnesota Wild to the Joe for this contest. Ryan Suter passed on Detroit's offer so let's see if the Wings can make Suter regret his decision.

1) Tuesday February 19: Detroit @ Nashville

Detroit will want to win to avenge last year's playoff exit

Nashville ended Detroit's season last year by eliminating them from the play-offs. I look forward to this game as a true test to see if the Wings have approved from last years performances. Nashville and Detroit have both lost some key-players but both teams look fairly good with their new rosters.

***

This season will be very interesting as it is a new chapter for the Red Wings as the Lidstrom-Era has ended. Saturday January 19th can't come fast enough!

For the full 2013 Detroit Red Wings Schedule click here!

Go Wings Go! 

Wings Resign Abdelkader, Rumoured to Sign Colaiacovo UPDATE: Colaiacovo signing confirmed.

UPDATE: Its not just rumours now Colaiacovo has been signed by the Red Wings (SOURCE)

Hopefully Adbelkader will see more of this

The Detroit Red Wings have resigned scrappy forward Justin Abdelkader. To a 4 year deal rumoured to be at $1.7mil a season.

The Michigan Native had a career best year last year playing in 81 games and tallying 22 points. It has also been reported that the Red Wings plan on using Abdelkader more as a Centre this year. The move to Centre is probably for the best considering how many Wingers the Red Wings currently have signed.

Combine this with Detroit's early offseason acquisition of Jordin Tootoo it could seem like Detroit is looking to bring back the "Grind Line" . The line of Kirk Maltby, Darren McCarty and Kris Draper gained large success as Detroit's shut down line and helped the Wings win multiple Stanley Cups.

If healthy Carlo could be a big help

There have also been some recent rumours surfacing about the acquisition of former St. Louis Blues Defensemen Carlo Colaiacovo. A twitteraccount reported that he had been signed but after further investigating this it looks like Detroit is only in talks with signing Colaicovo.

The 29 year old blue-liner was the #17 overall pick in the 2001 Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played with the Leafs organization and AHL affiliate for 5 years before being traded to the St. Louis Blues.

Colaiacovo has never played a full season in the NHL as he has been bothered with injuries for most of his career. Despite this he has managed to put up 30+ points in 2 of the last 4 years. 

Detroit still lacks a second first line defenseman to play alongside Niklas Kronwall but the addition of Colaiacovo could strengthen the Wing's D corps.

***

I welcome the resigning of Abdelkader and despite his injury troubles of Colaiacovo I would welcome him to Motown if he eventually signs here. However, all of this could be a moot point if the NHL decides to lockout the players (which in all likelihood will happen).

Recap of Detroit's Off-Season

This Off-Season has seen the Detroit Red Wings pop-up a lot, be it in rumours of chasing down lucrative free agents, trade rumours, or Nicklas Lidstrom's retirement. So let's take a look back at what the Red Wings have been up to this summer.

Nicklas Lidstrom's Retirement

On May 31st, 2012 Nicklas Lidstrom announced his retirement from the NHL after 20 productive seasons. Many consider him to be one of the Greatest Defensemen of All Time. In his retirement press conference Lidstrom said, "Retiring today allows me to walk away from the game with pride, rather than have the game walk away from me." Losing a legend like Lidstrom was a huge blow to the Wings as he is simply irreplaceable (something I covered earlier in this article). It was very sad to see Lidstrom retire, but he has given Detroit fans (4 cups!) a lot of good memories and it’s always good to see someone retire on their terms.

NHL Entry Draft

On June 22 and 23rd the NHL had their 50th annual Entry Draft. With their first pick in the 2nd round (they gave up their 1st round pick last season for Defensemen Kyle Quincey) Detroit selected Martin Frk. He's had some injury problems that caused his draft stock to drop, but if he can healthily recover Detroit could have gotten a steal of a deal at the draft.

Departing Players and New Faces

With the NHL Free Agency opening on July 1st 2012 Detroit said "Hello" to some new players, "Welcome Back" to others, and good-bye to some others. Defensemen Brad Stuart left the Wings to move closer to his family and play for the San Jose Sharks. Losing Stuart is a huge blow to Detroit's blue-line considering how Lidstrom retired and Brian Rafalski left last year.

Jiri Hudler also left the Wings to head to Calgary. To address Hudler's departure Detroit brought back Mikael Samuelsson signing him from Florida. Samuelsson has as good of a shot as Hudler and despite being older has a lot more experience and strength on the puck.

Detroit also signed former enemy Jordin Tootoo. Signing the ex-Nashville enforcer was a step outside Detroit's comfort zone, but if Tootoo can stay out of off-ice trouble his grittiness and occasional point-production could be much welcomed to the club. 

Gustavsson in his new jersey

Detroit was able to sign ex-Maple Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson. Gustavsson was a bright prospect goaltender, but that bright light was dimmed by the horrible Toronto squad he played behind. Gustavsson seemed thrilled to be signed by the Wings saying, "It’s a great team … and I’m real excited to go there." Though it looks as if he'll be the backup to Jimmy Howard, Gustavsson's eagerness to play on a good team could see him battle for the number one roll. Hopefully he and Jimmy Howard can push each other and by stepping up their game alleviate some of the stress that will be pushed on to Detroit's remaining blue-liners.

It was also announced that Grand Rapids Griffin's Star Defensemen Brendan Smith will be playing be moving up to the NHL with the Red Wings. Last year he tallied 7 points in 14 games. Detroit also signed Swiss Superstar Damien Brunner. The Left Winger is known for his high speed and flashy offence. It will be interesting to see how he transitions to the North American game.

Rumoured Free Agent Signings

Detroit missed out on the Marquee Free Agent Signings in Ryan Suter (who went to Minnesota) and Alexander Semin (who went to Carolina). While they were pursuing Suter they also missed out on some other defensemen in Jay Garrison (who headed to Vancouver) and Sami Salo and Matt Carle (who both headed to Tampa Bay, Damn you Stevie Yzerman! Wow I never thought I'd say that). The only signing I'm actually upset about is the Alexander Semin one. Detroit had lots of cap space this year and Carolina ended up giving him a $7.5 million 1 year deal. It is a lot to pay for someone of his work ethic, though I feel being paired with Pavel Datsyuk could have done wonders for Detroit's offence. I don't feel bad about Suter going to Minnesota because they over paid huge for him. Same with Salo and Carle, Tampa Bay offered them quite lucrative deals. Vancouver kind of sniped Garrison from under Detroit's noses, but at that time it was heavily rumoured that Ryan Suter would be signing with Detroit.

In un-signed Free Agent news, Detroit has had ties with Shane Doan (though just about every team in the league has had some rumour involving Doan). In my mind Doan is a better version of Todd Bertuzzi and throwing him on the top line with Datsyuk with Franzen on the wing would make for a terrifying line.

More recently Detroit has been rumoured to offer Unrestricted Free Agent defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo a 2 year contract. Carlo is a serviceable second or third line defenseman, and this signing would be a good move to try and solidify Detroit’s blue-line after the some big departures.

Trade Rumours

Despite how well he plays, Filppula's name always comes up in trade rumours

The Wings’ name has also popped up in trade rumours around the league. Detroit reportedly offered “a hell of a deal” for Columbus’ Rick Nash, however Columbus GM refused to trade Nash to a divisional rival and opted to trade with the New York Rangers. The deal was rumoured to include Filppula or Franzen, and Darren Helm, and a prospect. Many fans were glad Detroit didn’t execute this trade to get Nash. The two other players that Detroit has been linked to were Anaheim’s Bobby Ryan and Phoenix’s Keith Yandle. Both of these players would likely take a steep price like Franzen or Filppula and a top prospect. Bobby Ryan is a big right handed shot who can score 30+ goals a season and Keith Yandle is one of the finest young defensemen in the league. Detroit’s lack of right handed shooters and need for another first pairing defensemen make both of these trades interesting options.

***

 This next season certainly looks like a new chapter in the history of the Detroit Red Wings which makes the anticipation for the CBA talks to finish and season to start even greater. Go Wings!

I'm Baaack!

That's right after a long absence... I'm baaaaack.

First off, here's why I left for so long. I was quite busy with work and life in general so this blog got pushed to the back burner and eventually forgotten about. To make matters worse the way Detroit ended their season did not give fans anything to be excited about. If you remember watching the end of last season, it was down right depressing. After Detroit's record long home win streak they went from having a shot at the President's trophy to 5th place in the Western Conference.

And then there were the Playoffs. Detroit vs. Nashville. This goal, the first goal of the Series pretty much sums up the entire series for me...



Paul Gaustad centre's the puck and it banks off of Brad Stuart's foot and in. That series was frustrating to watch. Detroit out shot and out played Nashville in all 5 games, but only mustered one win and was the first team eliminated from the playoffs. I will give credit to Pekka Rinne who was absolutely outstanding in this series, and then inexplicably played horrible against Phoenix losing that series.

Well the 2011-2012 season is now over and we sit anxiously awaiting to here how the Millionaire vs. Billionaire drama unfolds and the NHLPA and NHL Owner's duke it out in the board room drawing up the next CBA. Hopefully the return of Gordie Howe's Elbow will keep you occupied amidst all of the season uncertainty.

Cheers!

***

In other news I've switched my Twitter Handle from @GordieHoweElbow to @HowesElbow. Sadly I was one character away from getting @GordieHowesElbow... Damn max character limits!

Weekly Preview: April 1-7th, 2012

Weekly Preview: April 1-7th, 2012

I'm a bit late to the punch here and the Florida game has already happened so this is a Preview/Review post. Other than that this is a big week for the Wings as they have just moved 1 point ahead of Nashville again reclaiming 4th spot in the West and move to 99 points, putting them in place to get their 12th straight 100+ point season.

Game 1:  Florida Panthers @ Home (Win: 2-1 SO)

A tight game from the goal scorers point of view. Detroit had 32 shots to Florida's 28 and both Jimmy Howard and Scott Clemmensen were able to stop all but one shot. Florida's goal came from a Kris Versteeg to Tomas Fleischmann one-timer in the 1st period and Detroit's goal came via some hard work from Valtteri Filppula who brought the puck in fought of checks and shot on net, a big rebound went out to Jiri Hudler who Slapped it in to tie the game and sent it to OT and later a Shoot out.

Pavel Datsyuk  scored as the first shooter but was matched by Wojtek Wolski's goal. Jiri Hudler would be the difference maker as he skated through up the ice slowly and sniped the puck top shelf. This was a big win for the Wings as they reclaimed their home ice advantage in the 1st round. Hopefully they can use this momentum to cary them through the rest of the week.

Game 2: @St. Louis Blues

Detroit takes on the Division Leading St. Louis Blues in Wednesday's contest. The goaltending duo of Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott have been lights out, which could spell trouble for this Detroit team whose offence has struggled as of late. If they can score like they did in their 7-2 routing of Columbus and get their Power Play chugging like it was earlier this year they should be fine.

Game 3: New Jersey @ Home

The Devils have locked up a playoff spot of their own it looks like they won't be moving from the 6th place in the Eastern Conference. Currently on a 3 game win streak they could be rolling with some momentum and tuning their game for the playoffs. It would be really nice for the Wings to beat up on the Devils to show Zach Parise how things could be if he signs with Detroit this off-season.

Game 4: Chicago @ Home

Detroit will have their hands full against their long time Division Rivals in this contest to close out the year. Its been full of ups and downs and though things are cool as of late the Wings look to be turning it on for playoff mode. There has been lots of talk of how Detoirt/Nashville will be the first round matchup but Detroit needs to put away Chicago in this matchup if they want to avoid Chicago creeping up in the standings.

***

The final week of the season is of course a huge week. Four games against Four Playoff teams. Detroit has been great at home this year and winning all of their games this week will ensure their home ice advantage in the first round - a luxury they seem to need.