The Red Wings are in Glendale to take on their first round opponent from last year, the Coyotes. This is the Coyotes' "home opener" in the sense that they opened their season in Prague against the Bruins, but this is the first game in front of their home crowd. They are going to be amped up not only because there might be a lot of people at the game for once (thank the Red Wing fans making the trip) but also because they will want to exact a small measure of revenge for the 6-1 drubbing the Wings put on them last year in Game 7. The Wings will definitely want to get over the egg they laid in Dallas and get a better start. However, in a scene reminiscent of last year, injuries have depleted the team to the point that they will be going with only 11 forwards in tonight's game. Here's the projected lineup for the Wings:
Pavel Datysuk-Henrik Zetterberg-Tomas Holmstrom
Todd Bertuzzi-Valtteri Filppula-Drew Miller
Jiri Hudler-Mike Modano-Dan Cleary
Darren Helm-Patrick Eaves
Nicklas Lidstrom-Brad Stuart
Doug Janik-Niklas Kronwall
Jakub Kindl-Ruslan Salei
Jimmy Howard
I'm still trying to find a projected lineup for the Coyotes, but it looks like Kyle Turris is going to get in the lineup for the Yotes this evening, and they will be getting Derek Morris back in their lineup after he sustained a minor injury. The Coyotes are rested, healthy, and looking for some payback. This game represents a chance for the Wings to erase the bad memories from the game against the Stars, and remind the Coyotes that last year's playoff series was no fluke. Let's get our chat on!