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10:00p ET, Honda Center
Anaheim, CA
TV: Fox Sports Detroit, NHLN (US & Canada)
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Ducks Blogs: Anaheim Calling & Battle of California
It's always fun when the Red Wings play the Ducks. It's a lot more fun when both teams are good. Detroit, as we have learned this season, is a middle of the pack average team. The Ducks, on the other hand, are damn good right now. They enter today only three points behind the Blackhawks and they have a game in hand. That's pretty damn incredible when you consider how Chicago started the season. Anaheim was quietly winning and picking up points while the Hawks were getting the major headlines. A win for the Red Wings tonight would go a long a way. They need to steal one of the next two games in Anaheim. This west coast trip is a tough one for Detroit and could make or break their season. If the Wings don't win tonight, be prepared for a for a long, long week.
The personnel in the lineup should remain the same from Wednesday's game agains the Wild. The lines were changed up a bit in practice, we shall see if they remain that way for the game tonight. Damien Brunner skated on the 3rd line. It could be the first game he plays without Henrik Zetterberg. Brunner might get the wake up call that he needs to find the back of the net. He's been cold lately. Daniel Cleary replaces him on the top line. The rest of the lines remain the same.
The Expected Lineup
Daniel Cleary - Henrik Zetterberg - Valtteri Filppula
Johan Franzen - Pavel Datsyuk - Justin Abdelkader
Damien Brunner -- Joakim Andersson -- Gustav Nyquist
Drew Miller - Cory Emmerton - Jordin Tootoo
*
Niklas Kronwall - Jonathan Ericsson
Brendan Smith - Ian White
Brian Lashoff - Jakub Kindl
*
Jimmy Howard (starting)
Jonas Gustavsson
Scratches: Patrick Eaves and Kent Huskins
Injuries: Kyle Quincey (cheek), Mikael Samuelsson (finger), Todd Bertuzzi (back), Darren Helm (back) and Carlo Colaiacovo (shoulder)
| RED WINGS | THE MATCH-UP | DUCKS |
| 14-11-5 (33 pts; 7th in West) | Record | 22-3-4 (48 pts; 2nd in West) |
| 2.60 (16th in NHL) | Goals Per Game | 3.24 (4th in NHL) |
| 2.57 (12th) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.34 (4th) |
| 16.0% (21st) | Power Play % | 24.4% (2nd) |
| 79.0% (23rd) | Penalty Kill % | 78.9% (24th) |
| Damien Brunner (10 goals) | Goal Leader | Ryan Getzlaf (11 goals) |
| 2 tied with 30 points | Points Leader | Ryan Getzlaf (35 points) |
- The Red Wings are 46-18-7-2 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time against the Anaheim Ducks.
- Anaheim has won two straight. They're on a 12 game points streak.
- The Wings are 3-1-0 on Fridays this season. The lone Friday loss was to the Ducks.
- Detroit is 2-2-0 against California teams this season.
- The last time these two teams met was February 15. The Ducks smoked the Wings 5-2. Andersson and Tomas Tatar scored for the Wings. Detroit had a 2-1 lead in the second period and gave up three goals in the 3rd.
- Detroit is 5-3-2 in their last 10 games. Anaheim is 7-0-3.
- Howard is 7-3-1 with a 2.19 GAA and .925 SV% with 3 shutout in 13 career starts against the Ducks. He has more shutouts against the Ducks than any other team he's every faced.