Morning Skate: Red Wings at Avalanche
Game 51
9p ET, Pepsi Center
Denver, CO
TV: Fox Sports Detroit, NBCSN
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Avs Blog: Mile High Hockey
I'm so happy to watch a hockey game tonight. It feels like forever since we last saw the Red Wings play. Please never take this much time off again. The Wings are embarking on a short western road trip. Colorado tonight and Phoenix on Saturday. The great news is that the Red Wings don't play on Friday. They always lose on my birthday, so high five for no games on my day of birth. Good job NHL schedule makers.
So what can we expect from this game tonight? The Avalanche have won two straight. They've been solid their last 10 games too. After a shitty start, they've climbed back into the wild card hunt. They're four points back of the last playoff spot, so they're fighting for their playoff life. The Red Wings, meanwhile, are the greatest hockey team of all time. Detroit is firmly in a playoff spot and based on the East standings… the playoffs are pretty much set. It's all about positioning now. Win tonight and continue to keep pace with the Lightning. If my boy Tyler Seguin can do me a solid, the Wings will be tied for first in the Atlantic after a win.
Let's have some fun tonight.
The Expected Lineups
Forwards
| Gustav Nyquist | Henrik Zetterberg | Justin Abdelkader |
| Darren Helm | Pavel Datsyuk | Tomas Tatar |
| Stephen Weiss | Riley Sheahan | Luke Glendening |
| Drew Miller | Joakim Andersson | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Danny DeKeyser | Kyle Quincey |
| Brendan Smith | Alexi Marchenko |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek (starting) |
| Jonas Gustavsson |
Scratches: Xavier Ouellet (maybe?), Jakub Kindl & Daniel Cleary
Injuries: Johan Franzen (headaches) & Jimmy Howard (groin)
Forwards
| Gabriel Landeskog | Ryan O'Reilly | Nathan MacKinnon |
| Alex Tanguay | Matt Duchene | Jarome Iginla |
| Cody McLeod | John Mitchell | Dennis Everberg |
| Max Talbot (fuck that guy) | Marc-Andre Cliche | Danny Briere |
Defensemen
| Jan Hejda | Zach Redmond |
| Nate Guenin | Tyson Barrie |
| Brad Stuart | Nick Holden |
Goaltenders
| Semyon Varlamov (starting) |
| Reto Berra |
| AVALANCHE | THE MATCH-UP | RED WINGS |
| 22-18-11 (59 pts; 3rd in WC) | Record | 29-12-9 (67 pts; 3rd in Atlantic) |
| 2.49 (23rd in NHL) | Goals Per Game | 2.98 (8th in NHL) |
| 2.72 (19th) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.44 (7th) |
| 13.0% (29th) | Power Play % | 25.6% (1st, bitches) |
| 83.5% (7th) | Penalty Kill % | 82.7%(11th) |
| Jarome Iginla (16 goals) | Goal Leader | Tomas Tatar (22 goals) |
| Alex Tanguay (34 points) | Points Leader | Henrik Zetterberg (46 points) |
- The Red Wings are 63-41-5-7 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time in the regular season against the Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise./
- Last 10 Games: Colorado 5-2-3, Detroit 8-2-0/
- Petr Mrazek is 0-0-1 all-time against the Avs. He lost 2-1 in a nine(!) round shootout on December 21st. /