The Detroit Red Wings will look to get back on track after a setback against Columbus on Tuesday night. Hopefully some home cooking against the Montreal Canadiens gets them back in the win column tonight.
Red Wings
- Starting off simple, Jimmy Howard gets the start tonight against the Canadiens. Hopefully more than the kid line can get this man some goal support.
- Speaking of the kid line, one of the kids draws back into the lineup as Tomas Jurco returns from a broken rib. He’ll be looking to provide a spark on the top line as he’s been slotted there with Johan Franzen and David Legwand.
- Jurco will be taking the place of Mitch Callahan whom the Red Wings sent back to Grand Rapids yesterday. “You put a forward in, you put a forward out, you put a forward in and you shake him all about.”
- Pavel Datsyuk is taking his return to activity at a deliberate pace. After working out off-ice today, he’ll skate tomorrow and hopefully progress even further as he attempts to return to the lineup. He hopes to join the Red Wings for the playoff push before regular season’s end.
- If you missed the hoopla yesterday, captain Henrik Zetterberg spoke with the media yesterday.
- Justin Abdelkader skated at the morning skate today. The target date for his return from a leg laceration continues to be next Wednesday against Boston. No other injury updates at this time.
Canadiens
- Not much on the Canadiens front that hasn’t already been covered. Michelle mentioned their recent hot streak in the Morning Skate that’s propelled them to second in the Atlantic over Tampa Bay. Maybe the Red Wings can take some of their mojo tonight.
- Carey Price gets the start in goal.
- The projected starting lineup for the Montréal “Yes, I did just put that accent aigu over the é” Canadiens:
FORWARDS Max “imum” Pacioretty David “deh-shar-nayz?” Desharnais Thomas “hahaha the Islanders traded for me then traded me” Vanek Alex “American hero” Galchenyuk Tomas “Plek-Plek” Plekanec Brendan “he’s got a lot of” Gallagher Rene “RE-ne or re-NE?” Bourque Danny “meets the Canadiens’ forward height restrictions” Briere Brian “John, duh!” Gionta Michael “superfluous u” Bournival
Lars “Eller? I hardly know her!” Eller Ryan “what?” White DEFENSE Andrei “he’s going to get a” Markov Alexei “eeeiiiiiiii” Emelin
Francis “he’s not gold” Bouillon
P. K. “Underban” Subban Jarred Tinordi
Mike “basket” Weaver
GOALTENDING Carey “ing the load” Price Peter “Stone” Budaj
Out of Town Scoreboard
Surprisingly no games that we might care about tonight. Columbus, Washington, and Toronto are all idle. Tampa Bay plays host to the New York Islanders, but we may be a little too far out to catch third in the Atlantic at this point. There’s also Phoenix at New Jersey if you think the Devils are capable of not only making up the current 5-point deficit with the 80-point club, but also passing two of these 80-point teams in the process.
This setup means we use up one of our games in hand. Tonight would be a great night to leap-frog the 80-point club and take sole possession of the first wild card spot at the end of tonight. All the focus in the world can be just on beating the Canadiens tonight, a team we’ve had pretty good success against this season. Win, and the Red Wings are in the driver’s seat with fewer than ten games to go.
AND FINALLY A REMINDER THIS GAME STARTS AT 7PM ET!
