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.

Weekly Review: March 25-31st, 2012

Weekly Review: March 25-31st, 2012

Despite a strong start of the week routing Columbus for a 7-2 win, the Red Wings lost both of their other games and handed over the 4th spot in the Western Conference to the Nashville Predators.

Game 1: Columbus Blue Jackets @ Home (Win: 7-2)

Detroit looked like they returned to their old self against the bottom dwelling Blue Jackets as they scored 7 consecutive goals. Tomas Holmstrom scored two Power Play Goals from in front of the net, if he can continue this play it could add a much needed resurgence to the Wings rather pedestrian Power Play. Gustav Nyquist scored his first NHL goal in this game as well, this young guy seems to be the real deal and adds some much needed scoring depth to the Wings. He needs to continue to elevate his game though to remain on the top lines getting the minutes he deserves. Jiri Hudler, Nick Lidstrom, Brad Stuart, and Pavel Datsyuk scored the other goals for the Wings before Mark Letestu and Rick Nash added 2 near the end of the game. This was a good game for the Wings however they didn't cary the momentum from this game through the rest of the week.

Game 2: @ Columbus Blue Jackets (Loss: 4-2)

Detroit gained Johan Franzen back in the lineup but for some reason was unable to play as well they did the previous night. A bright light could be the fact that Detroit was 2-for-5 on the Power Play, but in all honesty, the fact that they failed to score 5-on-5 against Columbus is worrying, especially this late in the season. Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall were the goal scorers in this game for the Wings. The one caveat that you could mention is that 3rd string goalie Ty Conklin got the start for the Wings tonight, but that doesn't negate the sluggish offence in this game.

Game 3: Nashville Predators @ Home (Loss: 4-1)

This game was a total heartbreaker. Detroit played great, but Pekka Rinne played better. Tomas Holmstrom had some nice tips from in front of the net, and Zetterberg had a beauty of a chance but Rinne was all over the puck this game stopping 31 of 32 shots. The first goal of the game came in the 2nd period from Gabriel Borque slapping the puck from the point. A weak clearing chance by Nyquist and some effective screening of the goalie accounted for this goal. Francis Bouillon scored with about 30 seconds left in the 2nd period as Detroit failed to clear the puck out of their zone. Early in the 3rd period Detroit let Alexander Radulov sneak out front as Andrei Kostitsyn sent the puck out front to Radulov who got his 2nd of the season. Jiri Hudler was finally able to snipe one past Rinne with about 3 minutes left, right before Shea Weber would ice the game with an empty netter. Detroit looks like they'll have their hands full in the first round against this Nashville team.

***

Detroit went 1-2-0 this week and the way they have been playing really scares me for the first round of the playoffs where they will face Nashville, likely in the Preds' home arena.

Weekly Preview: March 25-31st, 2012

Weekly Preview: March 25-31st, 2012

I am writing this a bit late and it is currently at the end of the 2nd period in the first Detroit-Columbus game, with Detroit up 6-0. That being said this is a huge week for Detroit if they want to cling on to that 4th place spot in the West and possibly climb back into first place. Two games against the horrible Blue Jackets and a big game on Friday against the Nashville Predators.

Game 1: Columbus Blue Jackets @ Home (Loss: 5-3)

I'm writing this column while the game is still on, but currently Detroit leads 6-0. If I wrote this column on time I would have predicted a similar outcome as Detroit has received much of its big guns back from injury and rookie stand-out Gustav Nyquist has been firing on all cylinders, certainly putting pressure on all of the top 6 forwards. 

Game 2: @ Columbus Blue Jackets

Since I am going to assume Detroit won't let up in the 3rd period of the game and will continue to pummel the Blue Jackets in Monday's game, I will say that Detroit will have a renewed sense of vigour as they travel to Columbus. Now having the taste of 2 straight wins and a much healthier lineup the Red Wings should eat up the Blue Jackets as they did on Monday night. 

Game 3: Nashville Predators @ Home

This is one of the most important games in a long time for the Red Wings. This will likely be a preview of the first round of the playoffs (providing St. Louis doesn't have a collapse) and with all of the recent Alexander Radulov hoop-la this game will certainly have the playoff atmosphere. All-Star net-minder Jimmy Howard is anticipated to make his return, which will mean Detroit will pretty much have all of their A-List cast in this contest. Nashville also has a very tough week this week facing St. Louis, Detroit, and Chicago. Despite their dismantling of Chicago on Sunday facing all the big guns of the Central Division could wear out the Predators down the stretch. Anything can happen in this game, and it is definitely a must watch game.

***

Two, hopefully, easy games against Columbus to ease out the kinks and give time for Jimmy Howard to heal up before the all too important game against the Preds on Friday. Look for this game to be an all out war.

Weekly Review: March 18-24th, 2012

Weekly Review: March 18-24th, 2012

Detroit has finally ended their losing streak at 6 games! This is great news despite the fact that they went 1-1-1 on the week the important things are they have got back into their winning ways and remain in the 4th spot in the Western Conference above the Nashville Predators. Let's look at how the Wings did this week...

Game 1: Washington Capitals @ Home (Loss: 5-3)

Detroit looked sluggish as their skeleton squad chugged on through to a 5-3 loss against the Washington Capitals. The scoring was started on a Washington Power Play as Marcus Johansson took the puck down low and centred it to a wide open Alexander Ovechkin who slapped the puck past Jimmy Howard for his 31st of the year. The Caps would add to their lead as Jason Chimera skated into the Red Wing zone with both Defence on him and dropped the puck to a wide open Mike Knuble who snapped it past Howard. Detroit would then again find themselves on the Penalty Kill and watch as Ovie skated through the middle of the ice, slapped a puck on net, got his own rebound and banged in his 2nd of the game. Detroit would show some life early in the 2nd period as their Power Play got to work. Some nice cycling from Hudler and Brendan Smith would see the puck end up on Kyle Quincey's stick who unleashed a cannon of a slap shot finally putting the Wings on the board. No real momentum was gathered from that goal however, as Washington would score next. Marcus Johansson would flip the puck out of the corner hitting Dan Cleary, Cleary looked stunned as Semin picked up the puck and sent it to Keith Aucoin who wristed it past Howard making it 4-1 Capitals. Detroit would inch closer to tying the game as Gustav Nyquist would send the puck on net and Caps' Goalie Braden Holtby tried to lazily pick the puck up but it was quickly batted in by Bertuzzi. Brendan Smith would then take the puck down low and shoot it on net, Justin Adbelkader would take a whack at it but it would be Dan Cleary who would bank the 2nd rebound in to bring the game to 4-3. That would be as close as the Wings would get however, as Jason Chimera would add an Empty Net goal to secure the win.

Detroit showed some life in this game on offence but their defence and Penalty Kill was bad and led to a loss in this game.

Game 2: @ New York Rangers (Loss: 2-1 OT)

Detroit headed into Manhattan having lost 5 games in a row, and facing the East's best team things did not look good. At least they managed to earn the extra point in this contest to move ahead of Nashville to take 4th place in the Western Conference.

Detroit would open the scoring as Ian White would get the puck at the blueline and sent it to Henrik Zetterberg who sniped his 19th of the year from the top of the face-off circle. Detroit would once again fall asleep on the Penalty Kill and let Brad Richards take the puck from Henrik Lundqvist and skate through the entire Penalty Killing Corps and slide the puck past Conklin. Each goaltender would play perfectly in the 2nd and 3rd period, sending the game to OT. Some nice Tic-Tac-Toe passing from Dubinsky to Del Zotto to Callahan would see Ryan Callahan snap in his 27th of the season and give the Rangers the win. Ty Conklin started for the Wings in this game after clearing waivers due to Jimmy Howard and Joey MacDonald being both out with injuries. Conklin had his trademark wonky plays that made the game "extra exciting" but still managed a great game in a losing effort. Detroit's offence was thwarted by excellent goaltending by Henrik Lundqvist and several goalposts shots. Once again some momentary Defensive lapses would send Detroit home without a win.

Game 3: Carolina Hurricanes @ Home (Win: 5-4)

Detroit finally snapped their losing streak and returned to their winning ways as their ageless captain Nicklas Lidstrom returned to the lineup. However this win would come in sloppy fashion. Jiri Tlusty would score on Ty Conklin only 17 seconds into the game. then in the 2nd period Chad LaRose would sneak in front and score 26 seconds into the 2nd period. Down 2-0, Detroit would finally get on the board after Val Filppula and Hudler cycled the puck down low and sent it to Henrik Zetterberg who broke in all alone and wristed the puck past Cam Ward. Detroit would then go down 2 men giving Carolina a 5-3 advantage. Jamie McBain would score with 1 second left on the first penalty and Jiri Tlusty would score on the 5 on 4 making the game 4-1 Hurricanes. However, Zetterberg would again break into the slot and pick up a pass from Filppula to make the game 4-2. Todd Bertuzzi would bat in a rebound from a Gustav Nyquist shot making the game 4-3 sending the game into the 3rd period. Val Filppula would pass to Brad Stuart who sent the puck to Jiri Hudler in the high slot who slapped the puck in to tie the game. Drew Miller would give Detroit the lead and first win in 2 weeks as he accepted a Dan Cleary pass, broke to the net and backhanded the puck over Cam Ward. 

***

It was good to see Nicklas Lidstrom return against Carolina and seeing him pick up an assist on the Bertuzzi goal was a bonus. Hopefully he can add some poise to this team and they can stop have defensive lapses which costs them against New York and Washington earlier this week.

Weekly Preview: March 18-24th, 2012

Weekly Preview: March 18-24th, 2012

Detroit is on a little bit of a slide. They have lost 4 straight and are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games. In their last two weeks they have gone 1-5-1. It looks as if St. Louis is running away with the Western Conference so if Detroit wants to hold on to the 4th spot in the West to get home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs they need to really start winning some games.

Game 1: Washington Capitals @ Home

Washington is in "must win" mode to hold on to the 8th and final playoff spot, however luckily for Detroit, Washington themselves have been on a bit of a slide and come into the Joe Louis arena for game 4 of a 5 game road trip. With Pavel Datsyuk back hopefully he will hit full stride and give the Wings a win in this game.

Game 2: @ New York Rangers

Both of these teams are on similar slides. Detroit 3-6-1 in their last ten, New York 4-5-1 in their last 10. Both teams can chalk their recent woes up to a great deal of injury woes. Due to injuries Ty Conklin will get the start for Detroit. Detroit has been absolutely awful on the Power Play as of late going 1 for 32 in the month of March and will certainly need to pick it up if want to return to their earlier dominance of the Western Conference. 

Game 3: Carolina Hurricanes @ Home

Nicklas Lidstrom is expected to return to Detroit's lineup for this game and hopefully he can return the Wings to their winning ways. Carolina currently sits at the 11th place in the Eastern Conference and looks as if they will stay there as the season ends. They have been on a 3 game win streak and will have suspended forward Jeff Skinner returning for this game. Hopefully Detroit can use this game to snap out of their losing streak and return to their dominating form. 

***

Lot's of injuries for thing Wings but they should get Lidstrom back on Saturday. Hopefully they can end their losing ways this week and work out some kinks as they head into playoff mode.

Weekly Review: March 11th-17th, 2012

Weekly Review: March 11th-17th, 2012

Detroit went 0-2-1 this week getting 1 of a possible 6 points. In this terrible week the only bright light is the fact that Pavel Datsyuk is back from injury and one can only assume Nicklas Lidstrom will be coming back soon too.

Game 1: @Los Angeles (Loss: 5-2)

Last week Detroit managed one sluggish win over the LA Kings however they weren't as lucky this week. Justin Williams opened the scoring for the Kings set up from Drew Doughty and Dustin Brown. Thanks to a Dustin Penner Holding penalty a few minutes later Detroit's disastrous Power Play took the ice. Brendan Smith took had the puck just inside LA's blue-line and then Dustin Brown stole the puck from him and passed to Anze Kopitar who skated down the ice and put the puck in with a snap shot for a Short Handed goal. In the 2nd period Detroit finally got on the board with Jiri Hudler netting his 21st goal of the season thanks to Zetterberg and Filppula. However, Drew Doughty would get a slapshot from the blue line to beat Jimmy Howard putting the the Kings back up by 2 goals. Detroit's special teams dwindled in the 3rd period as well as they gave up a Power Play goal to Slava Voynov off of a Doug Janik boarding call. Johan Franzen would bang in a rebound from Brad Stuart's point shot to make the game 4-2. That would be as close as this game goat as Jeff Carter would wrist in an empty netter finishing this game off at 5-2.

Game 2: @Anaheim (Loss: 4-0)

The Ducks managed to shut out the Red Wings in this contest as Jonas Hiller stopped all 23 shots the Wings through at him. Teemu Selanne opened the scoring by tipping in a shot from Cam Fowler. This goal was Selanne's 660th career goal and his 1,400th career point. Kyle Palmieri had a great individual effort to backhand in his 2nd goal of the season. The Ducks big guns connected for the 3rd goal of the game, Bobby Ryan netted his 26th with assists from Getzlaf and Vishnovsky. Finally Palmieri would back hand in another oal this time set up by Getzlaf for his 2nd of the night. Detroit's Power Play was once again anemic as they went 0 for 3.

Game 3: San Jose (Loss 3-2 OT)

Detroit go their lone point of the week in this contest, however it came in the form of an OT Loss. Detroit fell behind early giving up 2 goals to Joe Pavelski and Martin Havlat but the lead was cut in half thanks to the returning Pavel Datsyuk. Datsyuk got the puck in the corner from Kronwall and managed to shoot it on net and have it roll over Antti Niemi and in. Valtteri Filppula would even up the game at 2 a side just over halfway through the 3rd period with a beautiful snipe over the shoulder of Niemi. As the game went to OT it would be Martin Havlat who set up his own chance, a scramble in front of the net, where he eventually banged in the game winner.

***

Another poor week for Detroit, Jimmy Howard hasn't looked good since he came back from his injury and now Joey MacDonald is Day-To-Day with Back Spasms. It was good to see Datsyuk back in the lineup and contributing with a goal in Saturday's contest. Hopefully they can turn things around next week.

Weekly Preview: March 11th-17th, 2012

Weekly Preview: March 11th-17th, 2012

The Red Wings are coming off a disappointing week and heading on a 3 game road trip in the Sunshine State. Detroit currently sits 4th in the Western Conference 4 points ahead of the 5th place Predators. It looks like Detroit is a lock for the playoffs but they need to keep winning if they want to get a good seed, and home ice advantage (a big plus for the Wings this season) this post-season.

Game 1: @Los Angeles

Despite a sloppy performance last week Detroit managed to get their lone win of the week against the Los Angeles Kings. Detroit was able to make their shots count, scoring 4 goals on 15 shots against All-Star goalie Jonathan Quick. Such a strategy wouldn't be advisable if the Wings would like to win this one. They will however have Jimmy Howard and possibly Todd Bertuzzi come back for this game. Having Jimmy Howard back is great for this week due to the road-trip as despite Joey MacDonald's great play he isn't experienced enough to play all the games this week. Todd Bertuzzi could add some grit to the top lines giving room for Zetterberg and Franzen to take more shots. LA will be hungry in this game as they are finally in the play-off hunt again in a 3 way tie for 8th place with 76 points for the final play-off spot.

Game 2: @Anaheim

The Ducks are in do-or-die mode now. After having a horrible start to the year they jumped back into the thick of things after the All-Star breaks going on an impressive run fighting up to 12th place in the West, 8 points out of a playoff spot. The Ducks will pretty much need to win out the rest of their schedule so look for them to be playing each game as if it is their last. Anaheim's Corey Perry has scored 5 points in the last 5 games but is listed as questionable heading into their game against Colorado. If Detroit gets some of their big guns healed up (Datsyuk, Lidstrom) in time for this game, the Wings could put an end to the Ducks season.

Game 3: San Jose

San Jose sits in 11th place, 1 point out a play-off spot at the start of this week. Proving that the lower rung of a ladder in the Western Conference is extremely volatile. The Sharks, once an extremely offensive team has cooled down recently and has scored three goals or less in twelve consecutive games. Detroit's defensive and goaltending departments have been playing well as of late and if Datsyuk and Bertuzzi can come back into the lineup and stabilize the Red Wing's top 2 lines, Detroit could easily come out with a win in this one.

***

Detroit hasn't been playing well lately, largely due to the amount of injuries they have had recently, but things look as if they will turn around with a number of these players coming back into the lineup. Look for Detroit to rack up the wins in this one.