7:30p ET, Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, MI
TV: Fox Sports Detroit, NBCSN, TSN2
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Avalanche Blog: Mile High Hockey
Not much to say after yesterday’s debacle. It was a new low for the season and just another part of the roller coaster that is the 2013 Detroit Red Wings. The nice part about the embarrassing loss is that it’s over and the Wings are back on the ice right away. Whether they crumbled the game up in a ball, threw it away and forget about it or thought long and hard about the loss and learned for it, it doesn’t really matter. They just need to actually show up on the ice tonight and get two points. The Colorado Avalanche currently sit in last place in the Western Conference. Detroit on the other hand has lost any tiny cushion in the standings that it once had. The Blue Jackets are only two points back and the Kings and Canucks are pulling away ahead of the Wings in the standings. It could get real tense, real quick in Hockeytown.
Who knows what lines we’ll see tonight. Henrik Zetterberg is expected to miss his second straight game and Mikael Samuelsson is injured… again. That means Gustav Nyquist will be back in the lineup and there will be no healthy scratches among the forwards. Brian Lashoff was sent to Grand Rapids after yesterday’s game to officially make room for Danny DeKeyser, who isn’t expected to play tonight. Lashoff will be back later this week when rosters expand. Carlo Colaiacovo will return and replace Lashoff in the lineup. It will be his first game since the second game of the season in Columbus.
The Expected Lineup
Johan Franzen – Pavel Datsyuk – Justin Abdelkader
Damien Brunner – Valtteri Filppula – Daniel Cleary
Gustav Nyquist — Joakim Andersson — Drew Miller
Patrick Eaves – Cory Emmerton – Jordin Tootoo
*
Niklas Kronwall – Jonathan Ericsson
Brendan Smith – Carlo Colaiacovo
*
Jimmy Howard (starting)
Scratches: Danny DeKeyser
Injuries: Henrik Zetterberg (groin), Mikael Sameulsson (upper body), Kyle Quincey (cheek), Todd Bertuzzi (back) and Darren Helm (back)
| AVALANCHE | THE MATCH-UP | RED WINGS |
| 12-18-4 (28 pts; 15th in West) | Record | 17-13-5 (39 pts; 8th in West) |
| 2.44 (24th in NHL) | Goals Per Game | 2.54 (18th in NHL) |
| 3.15 (27th) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.57 (12th) |
| 15.0% (24th) | Power Play % | 17.2% (21st) |
| 80.4% (17th) | Penalty Kill % | 78.9% (24th) |
| P.A. Parenteau (14 goals) | Goal Leader | Pavel Datsyuk (11 goals) |
| P.A. Parenteau (35 points) | Points Leader | Pavel Datsyuk (35 points) |
- The Red Wings are 60-41-5-5 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time against the Colorado Avalanche franchise.
- Prior to their win yesterday, Colorado had lost four straight games. They beat the Predators though, so that’s not saying much.
- The Wings are 2-0-0 on Mondays this season.
- The last time these two teams met was March 5. Detroit skated away with a 2-1 win. Franzen and Kronwall were your goal scorers. This was a game in which the Red Wings had a 2-0 lead and didn’t blow it (remember those days?). Howard made 35 saves.
- Detroit is 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. Colorado is 2-8-0.
- Howard is 5-2-1 with a 2.66 GAA and .904 SV% in 9 career regular starts against the Avalanche.
Prediction: Detroit wins 3-1.
Let’s Go Red Wings.
