The Red Wings are at home tonight as the Chicago Blackhawks come to town. The Blackhawks are the defending Central Division and Stanley Cup Champions, but Detroit can make strides tonight in making sure the Blackhawks don't repeat in either. The Blackhawks are teetering on the edge of the playoffs, a single point ahead of the Calgary Flames and two above the Dallas Stars. A Detroit win tonight would make it very hard for the Blackhawks to catch the Red Wings in the race for the Central Division. But with Jimmy Howard out with a shoulder injury and Pavel Datsyuk still out with an ankle injury, the Wings might have a tough go of it. However, the Blackhawks are without Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland so there is a sort of parity on the injury front (except not really).
The Red Wings do get one of their big guns back tonight as Johan Franzen returns to the line-up after a groin problem. Franzen is expected to join Justin Abdelkader and Todd Bertuzzi on Detroit's third line. Jiri Hudler jumps up to the first line with Henrik Zetterberg and Dan Cleary, while Mike Modano and Valtteri Filppula's tandem success will continue with Tomas Holmstrom on the second line.
Puck drops at 7:30 PM ET and the game will air on VERSUS. Comment away below and LET'S GO RED WINGS!