10:00p ET, Honda Center
Anaheim, CA
TV: Fox Sports Detroit, NBCSN, TSN, RDS2
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Ducks Blogs: Anaheim Calling & Battle of California
Win Game 2.
That’s all the Wings have to do to. You get a split on the road as an underdog and you’re golden. It sucks the Red Wings lost on Tuesday night, but it’s not the end of the world. When’s the last time these two franchises played a series that wasn’t competitive and full of close games? The answer is never. You can even go back to the late 90s and the games were close. Sure the Wings swept, but some nights it took a Brendan Shanahan triple overtime goal to get the job done. Hell, you can even look at the Ducks 2003 sweep of the Wings. Two of those games went to OT and one was a triple overtime game as well. The fact of the matter is that whether the Wings win this series or not, these games are going to be heated and go down to the wire. If I’m Mike Babcock, I do anything and everything in my power to win this game. You head home with a split and you’re in a great freakin’ position.
Part of the power that Babcock has is adjusting his lineup. Rumors are out there that the Wings could see the return of Todd Bertuzzi tonight. I sure as hell hope so. Bert’s size and ability are something this team could use against the Ducks. Put Bert with Pav and Hank. Put him with Eaves and Emmer. Put him with Flip and Mule. Just put him on the ice. Of course, that’s not to say the lineup as is can’t win Game 2. We saw the last four games of the season that the ability is there. Bertuzzi just makes them a better and deeper lineup.
The Expected Lineup
Henrik Zetterberg – Pavel Datsyuk – Justin Abdelkader
Johan Franzen – Valtteri Filppula – Daniel Cleary
Gustav Nyquist – Joakim Andersson – Damien Brunner
Patrick Eaves – Cory Emmerton – Jordin Tootoo
*
Niklas Kronwall – Jonathan Ericsson
*
Jimmy Howard (starting)
Scratches: Ian White, Brian Lashoff and Carlo Colaiacovo
Injuries: Drew Miller (hand), Mikael Samuelsson (upper body), Todd Bertuzzi (back) and Darren Helm (back)
- The Red Wings are 14-12 (W-L) all-time against the Anaheim Ducks in the postseason.
- Anaheim last played a Game 2 in 2011 against the Predators. The Ducks won 5-3. Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne, Bobby Ryan (2), and Ryan Getzlaf scored. They clearly had no one else on their team that year.
- The Wings are 3-2 all-time against the Ducks in playoff games played on a Thursday.
- Last time these two teams met in a Game 2 was May 3, 2009. The Ducks won 4-3 in triple overtime. Franzen, Samuelsson and Brad Stuart were your goal scorers.
- Howard is 3-2 with a 3.02 GAA and .913 SV% all time in Game 2s.
Prediction: Red Wings win 3-2 in double overtime.
Let’s Go Red Wings.
