Morning Skate: Red Wings at Blackhawks Preview
Game 67
7:30p ET, United Center
Chicago, IL
TV: NBCSN & TSN2
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Blackhawks Blog: Second City Hockey
In case you missed it yesterday, Todd Bertuzzi is out with a lower body injury, probably received by the spearing? contact he received against the Oilers when he went slowly to the bench and was in pain. Since Todd Bertuzzi has a lower body, Jordin Tootoo was re-called from the Griffins and will play tonight. In an intermission interview with Bob Kaser Friday night, Tootoo said that it's been frustrating to continually be told he's an NHL player, yet watch Griffin after Griffin be called up while he's still in GR. It's an understandable frustration, but from everything I've heard, he's handled the situation well and been a good worker and teammate. I hope he uses all that frustration and determination to make an impact for the Wings tonight, we sure could use it.
I'm hoping that since the Hawks are a good team, the Wings put their best feet forward and win, because nothing make sense this season. Marrian Hossa hopes to make his return from an "upper body injury" against the Wings tonight... OF COURSE HE DOES! I hope he decided to wait one more game to make sure he's ready. Anyone know some voodoo we can do to make sure this happens? The only other time we played the Hawks this season, we won 5-4 in a shootout when Eaves (traded) Bertuzzi (injured) and Helm (injured) scored in the shootout. Does that matter tonight? Not one bit.
The Expected Lineup
Forwards
| Johan Franzen | David Legwand | Gustav Nyquist |
| Tomas Tatar | Riley Sheahan | Daniel Alfredsson |
| Jordin Tootoo | Luke Glendening | Justin Abdelkader |
| Drew Miller | Cory Emmerton | Teemu Pulkkinen |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Kyle Quincey | Danny DeKeyser |
| Brian Lashoff | Brendan Smith |
Goaltenders
| Jimmy Howard (starting) |
| Petr Mrazek |
Scratches: Jakub Kindl aka Mr. Lonely
Injuries: Daniel Cleary (knee), Darren Helm (concussion), Pavel Datsyuk (knee), Henrik Zetterberg (back), Mikael Samuelsson (kneeheadbackgroinlowerbodyboob?), Jonas Gustavsson (groin), Stephen Weiss (groin), Todd Bertuzzi (lower body), Tomas Jurco (broken ribs), & Joakim Andersson (Broken foot)
| BLACKHAWKS | THE MATCH-UP | RED WINGS |
| 38-15-14 (90 pts; 3rd in Central) | Record | 30-23-13 (73 pts; 5th in Atlantic) |
| 3.31 (1st in NHL) | Goals Per Game | 2.56 (18th in NHL) |
| 2.54 (11th) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.67 (15th) |
| 20.7% (6th) | Power Play % | 17.3% (17th) |
| 80.7% (21st) | Penalty Kill % | 84.3% (8th) |
| Sharp & Kane (29 goals) | Goal Leader | Zetterberg & Nyquist (16 goals) |
| Patrick Kane (67 points) | Points Leader | Henrik Zetterberg (48 points) |
Opponent Outlook
Player to Fear: I'm going to say Corey Crawford. Somehow, he has a 11-2-3 record against the Wings with a .939 SV% and 1.94 GAA average in 16 career games. I hope he gets a case of the shits before the game.
X-Factor: Patrick Kane. When he puts on his jersey, will his flux capacitor kick in and send him back to 1955 where his mother will try to make out with him? Stay tuned to find out.
Familiar Faces: I'm not putting Marrian Hossa here.
Thumbs up (One Thing to Like About Chicago): Hi Graham!
Thumbs down (One Thing to Dislike About Chicago): Blackhawks fans.
Bullets of Knowledge
- The Red Wings are 364-265-84-13 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time against the Blackhawks.
- Last 10 games: Chicago 5-5-0. Detroit 5-4-1./
- Howard is 4-7-5 with a 2.79 GAA, .905 SV% with 2 shutouts in 17 career games against Chicago./
Prediction: A Holy Slapper goal. Please oh please oh please.