Morning, folks. I'm taking over for Jeff on the morning skate today because Brendan Smith got his first NHL point last night and Mr. Hancock had to be Brendan Smith Institutionalized for a day with something called "acute overactive euphoria".
So that leaves me here to talk about Detroit's Jekyll & Hyde team going up against Anaheim's Heckle and Jeckle team. Of course, I don't think anybody will be calling Ryan Getzlaf "Old Featherhead" anytime soon...
The Wings need to keep momentum from yesterday going as they continue their climb back up the standings
Anaheim Calling and Battle of California are your SBNation Ducks' blogs.
Puck drop is just after 8p ET
The Expected Lineup
Johan Franzen -- Pavel Datsyuk -- Todd Bertuzzi
Danny Cleary -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Valtteri Filppula
Jiri Hudler -- Darren Helm -- Justin Abdelkader
Drew Miller -- Cory Emmerton -- Tomas Holmstrom
Nicklas Lidstrom -- Jonathan Ericsson
Niklas Kronwall -- Brendan Smith
Jimmy Howard (starting)
Scratches: Fabian Brunnstrom or Todd Bertuzzi or Eaves
IR: Jan Mursak (ankle), Ian White (face)
Fabian Brunnstrom is on the roster for game number 8 since his callup on November 5th (a game he played against the Ducks). He's eligible to stay with the club until he's played in 10 games or it's been 30 days since he last cleared. That means this is likely the last week he'll be with the club unless he does something magic to prove he belongs. If he gets playing time, he needs to make it count.
| RED WINGS | HOW THEY MATCH UP | Ducks |
| 10-7-1 |
Record | 6-9-4 |
| 2.72 (16th) | Goals Per Game | 2.00 (30th) |
| 2.28 (6th) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.84 (18th) |
| 18% (14th) | Power Play % | 14.9% (22nd) |
| 79.4% (22nd) | Penalty Kill % | 86.1% (8th) |
| Johan Franzen (9 goals) | Goal Leader | Corey Perry (7 goals) |
| Johan Franzen (18 points) | Points Leader | Teemu Selanne (18 points) |
- The Red Wings are 58-29-7 all-time against the Ducks, including having won four of their last five while outscoring Anaheim 19-6 in that time.
- Corey Perry won the Hart Trophy last season, proving that you can be a douche and win the Hart Trophy.
- Teemu Selanne is 41 and leads the Ducks in points. Usually this would be a good spot to say something about how that reflects on the Ducks, but Teemu Selanne is a damn good hockey player and having him lead your team in points isn't necessarily a bad thing.
- The Ducks have won exactly one game in November.
Prediction: The Wings pour it on early, almost get caught up on late, and hold on for a 4-3 victory with Pavel Datsyuk as your PotG.
Let's Go Red Wings.