Red Wings vs. Wild Morning Skate, Preview, How to Watch

Time: 8:00 PM EST

Place: Xcel Energy Center

TV: FSD, FS-Wisconsin, FS-North+

Radio: 97.1 FM The Ticket/1270 AM

Wild Blog: Hockey Wilderness

Same ‘ol, same ‘ol. The Red Wings lost again last night, this time to Winnipeg, bringing their losing streak to three now. On top of that, they have won just 1 of their last 10, and 4 of their last 21. Things are pretty much as bad as they could be in Hockeytown, and I’m sure more people are starting to actively use TSN Trade Bait to see what’s next for the Red Wings as the February 26th trade deadline is fast approaching. However, you will never see these players quit for the most part, and with the All-Star break right around the corner, the Wings are desperate to turn things around, which means it starts tonight in Minnesota.

As for the Wild, they have won 4 of their last 5, propelling them back into a playoff spot as they cling to the last Wild Card spot in the West (COULD BE OUT IF ANAHEIM WINS). Outside of a 5-game losing streak in Mid-December, the Wild have been playing pretty good hockey thus far. They’re still led by the usuals, as Parise and Granlund are tied for their team lead in points with 39, Ryan Suter is back healthy and has added 27 points of his own and then you have Coyle, Koivu, Staal, Spurgeon, etc. pitching in as well. They’re pretty much the same Minnesota Wild team we have seen the last 5 or so years. However, the Wild are still without defenseman Matt Dumba, who they lost to a shoulder injury on December 15. With Dumba out, their PP has taken a major hit, having gone 2 for their last 22. You know exactly what you are going to get from Minnesota, and with the Wild still right in thick of things for the Western Conference playoffs, expect their A-game here tonight.

Projected Lines

Red Wings

Bert-Larkin-Nyquist
Vanek-Nielsen-Mantha
Helm-LGD-AA
Abby-DLR-Ehn

Cholowski-Green
Ericsson-Hronek
Kronwall-Jensen

Howard
Bernier

Wild

Zucker-Koivu-Granlund
Greenway-Staal-Niederreiter
Parise-Coyle-Kunn
Hendricks-Eriksson Ek-Foligno

Suter-Spurgeon
Brodin-Pateryn
Seeler-Prosser

Dubnyk
Stalock