I'm back from Vegas and that means one thing: I am finally ready to witness my first full Red Wing game tonight. The only live action I've seen so far was the shootout against the Avalanche, and it still bothers me that not one of the Wing shooters could get a puck past Peter Budaj. Tonight, the Wings will be hoping to ruin yet another home opener for an opponent when they head down to Texas to take on the Stars. The Wings are facing a rested team, as the Stars haven't played since Saturday, so it will be important for them to get a lead early. The big story about tonight is obviously Mike Modano and his first game against the only other franchise he has ever played for. It will be interesting to see what kind of reaction he gets, but my money is on the Stars' fans cheering him at the start of the game to let him know what he meant to the team, and then treating him the same way they treat all Red Wing players: poorly.
Per Khan(!), here are the expected lineups for both teams:
Pavel Datsyuk-Henrik Zetterberg-Tomas Holmstrom
Johan Franzen-Valtteri Filppula-Todd Bertuzzi
Jiri Hudler-Mike Modano-Dan Cleary
Drew Miller-Darren Helm-Patrick Eaves
Nicklas Lidstrom-Brad Stuart
Doug Janik-Niklas Kronwall
Jakub Kindl-Ruslan Salei
Chris Osgood
James Neal-Brad Richards-Loui Eriksson
Brendan Morrow-Mike Ribeiro-Adam Burish
Brian Sutherby-Tom Wandell-Toby Peterson
Fabian Brunnstrom-Steve Ott-Brandon Segal
Nicklas Grossman-Stephane Robidas
Karlis Skrastins-Matt Niskanen
Trevor Daley-Mark Fistric
Kari Lehtonen
The Wings were jobbed out of 2 potential wins last year against the Stars (the Brad May "no-goal" and the Steve Ott shootout goal fiasco), so here's hoping the referees play no part in the outcome tonight. Join us below for the Game Thread chat.