| Colorado Avalanche (35-20-6, 76 pts) | Game 62 | Detroit Red Wings (28-21-12, 68 pts) | |||
 | vs. |  | |||
| Arena: Pepsi Center--Denver, CO | |||||
| Starting goalie: | Craig Anderson | Starting goalie: | Jimmy Howard |
| 31-16-5, 2.42 GAA | 21-13-8, 2.28 GAA | ||
| SBN Blog: | Mile High Hockey | Last meeting: | 4-2 DET win |
| Time: | 9:00 p.m. ET | TV: | Versus |
The NHL regular season resumes tonight as the Red Wings and Avalanche face off in Denver for the fourth and final time this season. The Avalanche won the first two of the season series before the Red Wings won the third contest 4-2 with a game winning goal from Ville Leino. Yes, that Ville Leino.
Detroit will look to even the season series in the final game but it won't be easy as a very poor road record (12-13-7) is matched up against Colorado's good home record (20-8-2). Look for the Red Wings to push the pace as the wick on the playoff candle is starting to burn low and every game is critical at this point.
Brian Rafalski's status for the game (Olympic fatigue??) is uncertain at this point but the status of another defenseman is certain. Andreas Lilja, out since February 28 of last season makes his Detroit defense for the first time all season and should be an added physical presence on the ice.
Puck drops at 9:00 p.m. ET and the game will air on Versus. Comment below and as always, GO WINGS!
Lines after the jump.
Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Cleary-Zetterberg-Bertuzzi
Miller-Filppula-Williams
Draper-Helm-Eaves
if Rafalski PLAYS:
Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Stuart
Ericsson-Lilja
if Rafalski DOESN'T PLAY:
Lidstrom-Kronwall
Ericsson-Stuart
Lebda-Lilja