SB Nation - Tomas Holmstrom

Howard, Wings Blank Bolts 3-0; Lose Zetterberg to Injury

MrNorrisTrophy — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:38:49 -0000

Jimmy Howard earned his first career shutout as the Red Wings defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 on Thursday night. But the win came after a huge loss as Henrik Zetterberg was injured on a collision with Swedish teammate Mattias Ohlund. Zetterberg's long term status is unknown as of now and leaves the Red Wings without 9 regulars...9 I said.

Zetterberg was injured in the first period while reaching for a stray pass from Ville Leino. Zetterberg was outstretched and the much larger Ohlund put his shoulder into Zetterberg--a clean hit by all means--and dropped him to the ice. Patrick Eaves took immediate exception to the play (finally, someone standing up) and was shoving Ohlund along the boards.

The Wings scored at 8:24 of the first as Drew Miller and Brian Rafalski combined for a great goal. Miller came off the bench and Rafalski spotted him from deep in the defensive zone and chucked a puck up ice that Miller knocked down to have a breakaway against Tampa Bay's goalie Mike Smith. Smith went for the poke check and Miller flipped it up over just before the attempt to score his 4th of the year, also coming against his former team. Take that TB front office!

Todd Bertuzzi continued his recent hot streak by scoring his 9th goal of the year during the 3rd period. The play started with a Pavel Datsyuk trademarked offensive zone takeaway. Datsyuk got it to Tomas Holmstrom and Holmstrom's pass was tipped in by Bertuzzi for a 2-0 Detroit lead at 6:48 of the third. Patrick Eaves tapped a Nick Lidstrom pass in behind Mike Smith for a 3-0 lead with 9:10 remaining; more than enough with the way the Howard was playing.

The Detroit win was also head coach Mike Babcock's 300th career win. Along with Howard's first career shutout, the two accomplishments were overshadowed by yet another injury. More on the injury to Zetterberg as it is made known. Howard's shutout marked his 11th win of the year as he stopped all 30 Tampa Bay shots. His GAA is creeping down with his great performances lately and he has won 6 of the last 8 games he started.

MrNorrisTrophy's Wing of the Game: Jimmy Howard. Howie played great in net tonight, stopping every single Tampa Bay shot. He stonewalled excellent scorers like Vinny Lecavlier and Alex Tanguay. The confidence train is a-rollin' for Jimmy.

Jimmy Howard

#35 / Goalie / Detroit Red Wings

Height: 6-0

Weight: 210

Born: Mar 26, 1984

Coyotes vs. Red Wings - Game #33 Preview - I'm An Anteater!

OdinMercer — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:30:17 -0000

Ilya Bryzgalov in Saturday's game against the Sharks... Or really any recent start.

The Coyotes have been on fire lately, getting 11 points of the possible 12 over the last 6 games. The biggest reason for that has continued to be Ilya Bryzgalov who has made a ton of great saves and stonewalled even the best offenses. Bryzgalov continues to get commentators around the league to whisper VEzina in the same sentance with ho good he's been. Credit to the defense for taking away a good chunk of chances over last year's numbers, but the credit still goes to Bryzzie. Even Coach Dave Tippett thinks so as after the San Jose game he asked reporters if he should just put a tape recorder of him saying how Bryz won the game for the Coyotes since it seems to be the same after every game.

Tonight though the Coyotes take on the nemesis Detroit Red Wings. While the Wings may not be the same team they usually are, or at least haven't shown that they are yet, it would still be both 2 points and a feather in our cap to take them down tonight at Joe Louis Arena. More on the Strengths and weaknesses in the Five after the Jump...

FIVE FOR WINNING

Get That Damn Holmstrom Away!
If there's one player on the Red Wings that I simply can't stand it's TOmas Holmstrom. Though I can't really decide if it's him I hate or the fact that the opposing team does absolutely nothing to get him away from the front of the net. Pretty sure that's the frustrating part. Hopefully the energy line is out there against him a good amount, but if not someone has to take responsibility and clear him out so Ilya Bryzgalov can actually see the puck. Holmstrom's net camping has him leading the Wings with 12 goals this season.

Just Get One at the Joe
The Coyotes haven't won a game at Joe Louis Arena since March of 2006. That's insane. If we're going to be contenders these are the types of streaks we need to put an end to. They're also really the kind we shouldn't think much about, but we do, or at least I do. Really we just need to start showing everyone that we're for real just in case they haven't been paying attention.

Play Their Game Better Than They Do
The style of game that Detroit has had lately with a lot of it's offensive players on the shelf has been very similar to the one that Phoenix has. Defensive and not relying on a lot of goals to win games. THe Coyotes have just been slightly better at it at least on the defensive end. The Coyotes are 4th in Goals against with an average of 2.22 a game and Detroit has climbed to 8th with a 2.62. In terms of goals scored, the Coyotes rank near the bottom in goals for at 2.41 (27th) but Detroit hasn't been blowing the doors off either at 2.69 (19th). It seems like the winner tonight will be the one with the better D and not much else.

Get Through the Defense
If the Coyotes can break through the Detroit defensemen Jimmy Howard isn't exactly the best goalie in the world. Before the defensive players got their game together both he and Chris Osgood were getting scored on with consistency. The goals we get tonight are going to have to be on odd man rushes or one timers. We need to start making some of those open chances count.

Don't Plan for Power Play Goals
1-26. That's how successful the opposition power play has been against us over the last 7 games. Unfortunately the same is true of the Red Wings. THey've only allowed one of the last 27 get past them. So I wouldn't count on the power play being a huge advantage for either team tonight with how they've both locked down their PK systems to stifle other teams.

The Owie List

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Kurt Sauer	head	10/07/2009

Detroit Red Wings Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Johan Franzen	knee	10/09/2009
Jason Williams	fibula	11/08/2009
Andreas Lilja	concussion	09/14/2009
Valtteri Filppula	wrist	10/30/2009
Niklas Kronwall	knee	11/22/2009

Bertuzzi leads Wings comeback win 3-2 in OT

MrNorrisTrophy — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:20:34 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

10 days ago: Detroit Red Wings right wing Todd Bertuzzi, second from left, celebrates his goal with teammates winger Patrick Eaves (17), defenseman Brett Lebda, second from right, and defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom (5) of Sweden during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks in Detroit, Friday, Dec. 11, 2009. Bertuzzi scored two goals, one in overtime, to defeat the Ducks 3-2. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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Who of you guessed Todd Bertuzzi would have guided the Wings to a victory? Probably not many, right? Bertuzzi scored twice to lead the Red Wings from behind to beat the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. The game was an intense physical game that saw numerous power plays for both teams with the Red Wings going 2 for 10 on the man advantage and killing off all four of the Anaheim chances.

Saku Koivu scored at 8:05 into the second period to put the Ducks ahead 1-0. Dan Sexton was credited with the primary assist and added a goal of his own within the last minute as he slipped a shot past Jimmy Howard from a bad angle to put the Ducks up 2-0 heading into the third period. The shot barely squeaked through Howard's pad for the Ducks advantage.

Tomas Holmstrom scored his 12th goal of the season on a great pass from Ville Leino. The Wings were on the man advantage after a Ryan Getzlaf hooking call and Leino carried the puck below the goal line before feeding Holmstrom at the low slot. Holmstrom put the shot off to the right side of the net, just beating Jean-Sebastian Giguere.The goal was a huge boost to Detroit to start the third period and helped to build confidence going forward in the waning minutes of the game.

Bertuzzi's first goal wasn't a thing of beauty as he put the puck in off of Giguere's skate but the Red Wings haven't had many of those "pretty" goals this year. Bertuzzi's first goal came halfway through the third and a late penalty call on the Ducks provided the Wings with a handful of quality chances as regulation time ticked off the clock.

On carry-over from the penalty at the end of regulation, Detroit ended the game and earned the full two points. Bertuzzi got the puck down low and Giguere blocked all but maybe eight inches of the upper corner of the net. It would require a perfect top-shelf shot and that's what Bertuzzi provided to end the game at 3-2. Brad Stuart and Henrik Zetterberg were credited with the helpers on the goal which was Bertuzzi's sixth of the campaign.

Some more post game analysis will be up later on.

MrNorrisTrophy's Wing of the night: Todd Bertuzzi. Big Bert put a pair in and was actually a big factor tonight as he played a decent physical game (although not credited with any hits) and was well positioned at times during the game. His two goals on two shots helped the Wings over his former club for a much needed win.

December 8 :: Numbers and Awards

mpetrella — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:25:56 -0000

More photos » by Paul J. Bereswill - AP

Even in a draft-centric team re-creation, here's your backup goaltender. (AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill)

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Much is made of the Red Wings' ability to built a championship team while never selecting very high in the draft (**cough**Pittsburgh**cough**). People point to Jonathan Ericsson (the 291st and final selection of the 2002 Draft), Henrik Zetterberg (210th in 1999), and Tomas Holmstrom (257th in 1994) are glowing examples of a draft science that has been perfected by the organization. Sometimes, they pick up guys that haven't lived up to their draft pick, like Dan Cleary and Patrick Eaves, but have you ever wondered what the Red Wings would look like if the team was formed -- and the line combinations were made -- based solely on their draft selection? Well, it would look like this:

Cleary (13) -- May (14) -- Bertuzzi (23)
Eaves (29) -- Ferraro (32) -- Emmerton (41)
Abdelkader (42) -- Tatar (60) -- Draper (62)
D. Axelsson (62) -- Maltby (65) -- Nestrasil (75)
TOP CALL-UPS: Joakim Andersson (88), Valtteri Filppula (95), Johan Franzen (97)

Stuart (3) -- Kindl (19)
B. Smith (27) -- Kronwall (29)
Lidstrom (53) -- Lilja (54)
TOP CALL-UPS: Doug Janik (55), Gleason Fournier (90), Max Nicastro (91)

McCollum (30)
Osgood (54)
TOP CALL-UPS: Jimmy Howard (64), Daniel Larsson (92)

AFTER THE JUMP, some more numbers and award updates

Justin Abdelkader is going to get the opportunity to center the second line against the Blues, but he's the only Red Wing faceoff-taker with a percentage below 50 (minimum 100 faceoffs). He's currently winning only 42.8% of his draws.

The Red Wings have only scored the first goal of a game ten times this season, with Tomas Holmstrom and Dan Cleary each netting that goal twice. Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Kris Draper, Brad Stuart, Drew Miller, and Justin Abdelkader each have the distinction once.

Kris Draper and Niklas Kronwall co-lead the team in goals against division opponents (3 each). Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom co-lead in goals against opponents from other divisions (9 each). Henrik Zetterberg leads the team in points at home (16) and on the road (14).

The only players to have negative +/- both at home and on the road are Dan Cleary, Derek Meech, Brett Lebda, and Todd Bertuzzi. On the contrary, the only players to be positive both at home and on the road are Kris Draper, Patrick Eaves, Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom.

Kirk Maltby is the only Red Wing with a point while shorthanded -- an unassisted goal.

Justin Abdelkader leads the way with 78 hits, followed by Brad Stuart (75), Darren Helm (73), Dan Cleary (50) and Patrick Eaves (50).

CHRIS CHELIOS AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings defensemen with the fewest goals scored in the most games played. The player must have played in at least 3/4 of the team's games. The award is named for Chris Chelios, who scored 23 goals in his final EXACTLY 600 games as a Red Wing (regular season and playoffs).*
1. Nicklas Lidstrom (1 goal in 29 games)
2. Brett Lebda (1 goal in 26 games)
3. Brad Stuart (2 goals in 29 games)
4. Brian Rafalski (2 goals in 26 games)
5. Jonathan Ericsson (3 goals in 27 games)

DANNY CLEARY "SACRAFICE YOUR FACE" AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings forward with the most blocked shots. Award is named for Dan Cleary, who is used to becoming synonymous with "black eye" and/or "broken jaw."*
1. Darren Helm (20)
2. Danny Cleary (15)
3. Henrik Zetterberg (14)
4. Pavel Datsyuk (13)
5. Justin Abdelkader (9)

DEREK MEECH AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wing with the most games spent in the press box. Award is named for Derek Meech, who was a healthy scratch 35 times last season.*
1. Derek Meech (15)
2. Brad May (8)
3. Patrick Eaves (7)
4. Kirk Maltby (5)
5. Brett Lebda (3)

GREG STEFAN AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings goaltender that makes you question how they're in the NHL and you aren't. Award is named for Greg Stefan, who played nine seasons for the Red Wings, but only three that had a goals against average under 4.*
1. Chris Osgood (6-5-4, 2.75, .896)
2. Jimmy Howard (8-5-1, 2.55, .910)

MIKAEL SAMUELSSON AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings forward with the most shots to miss the net. Award is named for Mikael Samuelsson, who literally must have been aiming for the 11th row.*
1. Henrik Zetterberg (52)
2. Todd Bertuzzi (29)
3. Tomas Holmstrom (28)
4. Ville Leino (27)
5. Pavel Datsyuk (21)

PAST AWARD WINNERS
Patrick Eaves Goodfellas Award: Patrick Eaves (last player to be penalized)
Aaron Downey Award: Derek Meech (last player to score a goal)

New Jersey Devils Morning News, Dec 7

TibbsBeastoftheEast — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:14:22 -0000

Devils up next: Sabres and Ryan Miller - (The Bergen Record)
Devils face America's best - (The Bergen Record)

Patrik Elias, Devils shoot down Red Wings - (The Bergen Record)
Devils defenders have a long chat; Two-man advantage adjustments - (Fire & Ice)
Elias explains quick departure; Brodeur believes Miller will be U.S. starter - (Fire & Ice)
Terreri filling in as second goalie as Brodeur gets afternoon off - (Fire & Ice)
Pandolfo and Oduya return to help Devils win - (Fire & Ice)
Devils turn back the clock to 1995 - (Fire & Ice)
Patrik Elias scores winner and then leaves building - (Fire & Ice)
Live post: Devils win 4-3 in a shootout - (Fire & Ice)
Lemaire recalls happy faces of 1995 Stanley Cup - (Fire & Ice)
White will play vs. Red Wings; Sending Halischuk down was difficult decision - (Fire & Ice)
Remembering the 1995 Stanley Cup team; Danis still waiting - (Fire & Ice)
NJ Devils coach Jacques Lemaire tweaks 5-on-3 power-play unit - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils post-practice report - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils early practice report: Martin Brodeur not practicing - (The Star Ledger)
Jacques Lemaire enjoyed seeing '95 NJ Devils and return of injured players - (The Star Ledger)
Patrik Elias wins shootout for NJ Devils and then leaves hurriedly - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils rally for 4-3 shootout victory over Detroit Red Wings - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils GM Lou Lamoriello makes 'tough decision' to send rookie winger Matt Halischuk to minors - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils-Detroit Red Wings: As they played - (The Star Ledger)
Colin White in NJ Devils lineup; Matt Corrente will sit - (The Star Ledger)
Is former NJ Devils defenseman Brian Rafalski a future Hall of Famer? - (The Star Ledger)
Back injury will keep Brian Rafalski from facing NJ Devils - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils send Matt Halischuk to Lowell (AHL); Johnny Oduya and Jay Pandolfo activated - (The Star Ledger)
No roster move yet for NJ Devils - (The Star Ledger)
Healthy Devils best Detroit in shootout - (The New York Daily News)
Brodeur: Sabres' Miller 'no doubt' top U.S. goalie - (The New York Post)
Brodeur steals shootout win over Red Wings after Devils lapse - (The New York Post)
As Devils' vets return, decisions to be made - (The New York Post)
Watch Postgame Reaction - (Msgnetwork)
Devils 4, Red Wings 3 (SO) - (NewJerseyDevils.com)
Devils honor '95 champs before facing Wings - (NewJerseyDevils.com)
Pandolfo, Oduya activated; Halischuk to Lowell - (NewJerseyDevils.com)
Devils-Sabres Preview - (FOXSports.com)
Devils honor '95 champs before facing Wings - (NHL.com)
NHL Standings - (Yahoo NHL)
Devils' players stats - (Yahoo NHL)
Devils Team Report - (Yahoo NHL)
Red Wings' Tomas Holmstrom proud of reaching 200-goal mark - (Flint Township/Swartz Creek Advance)
Red Wings-Devils wrap-up: mental mistakes cost Wings more points - (MLive.com)
Sabres ranks among NHL's top 7 in PPG - (Buffalo Business First)
Devils face Sabres - (hockeybuzz.com)
Devils vs. Red Wings, 12/5/09: A Documentary Feature About Boomer’s First Trip To The Rawk - (Interchangeable Parts)
Devils vs LightningBOLTS!, 12/4/09 - (Interchangeable Parts)

LOWELL DEVILS
Devils Shocked by Monarchs, 6-5 - (LowellDevilsHockey.com)
Devils iced in a thriller - (The Lowell Sun)
Palmieri leads Devils to a win - (The Lowell Sun)

TRENTON DEVILS
Devils Force OT, But Royals Win Again, 4-3 - (TrentonDevils.com)
Devils Comeback Falls Short - (TrentonDevils.com)
Reading Wins Back and Forth Match 5-4 - (TrentonDevils.com)
Reading vexes T-Devils in OT - (The Trentonian)
Justin Coutu Returned To Trenton Devils - (MLN - The Raw Feed)

MISCELLANEOUS
Ross gets a Devils' rush - (Denver Post)
DiNardo memorial hockey game to benefit their kids - (The Jersey Journal)
Spitfires skate to easy 9-5 win vs. Petes - (Windsor Star ); Adam Henrique

Rangers GameDay: News and Notes, Scouting the Red Wings

Jim Schmiedeberg — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:22:26 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

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RocNow.com has a great story on Ryan Callahan.

Here is the recap of last night's game in the NY Times, interesting quote from Henrik Lundqvist:

"Technically I’ve been feeling good the last couple weeks, but the focus part felt really good tonight," Lundqvist said. "It’s important that you don’t think too much when you play, and not analyze the game as you play. It’s just focusing on the next shot."

Here are the post-game remarks from Head Coach John Tortorella:

More after the jump.....

Detroit Red Wings: 13-10-5, 3rd Place, Central Division

Head Coach: Mike Babcock

	STATS
28	GP	28
13	W	14
10	L	13
5	OT	1
31	P	29
0.554	P%	0.518
2.75	G/G	2.86
2.79	GA/G	3.04
21.4	PP%	21.0
77.4	PK%	84.3
34.1	S/G	29.1
27.8	SA/G	29.9
52.3	FO%	47.7

Leading Scorer:

Henrik Zetterberg

#40 / Left Wing / Detroit Red Wings

Height: 5-11

Weight: 195

Born: Oct 09, 1980

Notes:

Veteran forwards Tomas Holmstrom and Kris Draper are producing for the Wings. Each has two goals and two assists in his last four games. Holmstrom leads the team with 11 goals after scoring on the power play against the Devils.

Red Wings staying the course despite injuries (The Fourth Period)

Tomas Holstrom scores 200th NHL goal (Freep)

For more on the Red Wings, check out the SBNation home for Detroit: Winging It In Motown

One final thought from me:

Explain to me again why these two Original Six teams meet once a year.

Homer reaches career goal 200

MrNorrisTrophy — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:00:22 -0000

by David Zalubowski - AP

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

View full size photo »

Tomas Holmstrom got his 200th career goal last night. I was actually kind of shocked that he hadn't already reached this plateau but nevertheless he scored his 200th career goal last night against Martin Brodeur. He deflected a shot past Brodeur while jostling for position a top the crease--in pure Homeric fashion. Brodeur argued all night about Holmstrom interfering with him but after Holmstrom got called for it in the first period, there weren't going to be many more calls that way. The Demolition Man has probably had about 10+ goals waved off in his career for bogus "goaltender interference" calls but he's finally got 200. Not to mention how many teammates goals have been waived off because of his supposed interference. I will admit there are times when the call is warranted but the reputation often precedes his actual positioning affecting the call.

He's also been the target of vicious attacks by both defenders and goaltenders--Marty Turco anyone?--but still stands in front of the crease happily waiting for a 90 mph shot to come straight at him. Find one other guy in the league that can do what Homer does at as high of a level and I'll be shocked. Holmstrom was the mule before The Mule, taking all the physical punishment in hopes that his teammates can get better chances or so he can screen the shot until the very last second.

Congratulations to the Holmstrom and hopefully he's got many more left this year and down the road.

Side note: I've always thought Holmstrom looks like one of the guards on Goldeneye 007...maybe its just me?

Red Wings Lose 4-3 in Shootout To Devils

joehass — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:31:16 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

16 days ago: Detroit Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood makes a save during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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When you're facing the best goaltender in the modern history of the National Hockey League, facing him in a shootout is a daunting task.

Having come back from down two goals, the Red Wings were seemingly charged up entering overtime against the New Jersey Devils. Unable to settle it in the extra five minutes, they had to go to the shootout where they could only get one shot out of four into the net. Patrick Elias managed to beat Chris Osgood in the fourth round to give New Jersey the 4-3 victory.

Patrick Eaves had a goal and an assist, while Kris Draper and Tomas Holmstrom also scored for the Red Wings. Chris Osgood made 23 saves, but let in a couple of softer goals.

In the first, Zach Parise went to the right of Osgood, bringing three Red Wings with him. Meanwhile, Jamie Langenbrunner came in stealthily to Osgood's left, and Parise set him up beautifully. With a wide-open net, he did not miss to hit his seventh of the season.

Just under two minutes later, Johnny Oduya led a three-on-two for the Devils. Holding onto it, he put it between Osgood's legs to make it 2-0. It was Oduya's first goal of the year in his first game back since being injured on October 28.

That first period looked suspiciously like Detroit's Thursday night egg against Edmonton: slow playing, lethargic, and generally without a lot of energy.

The Red Wings struck back in the second period. Darren Helm skated in along the near-side boards. Using Mark Frasier as a screen, he put the puck towards the net, where Kris Draper knocked in his fifth goal of the season to make it 2-1.

Five minutes later, New Jersey set up another three-on-two. This time, James Pandolfo brought the puck up the right side, passed it across to Vladimir Zharkov, who shot it towards a scrum in front of Osgood. Rob Neidermayer happened to be in the right place at the right time and got it in to reset the two-goal lead.

With 30 seconds left in the second and Elias in the penalty box, Brad Stuart passed to Tomas Holmstrom, who was camped out in his usual place in front of the opposition goaltender. Holmstrom got it past Brodeur to make it back to 3-2.

In the third period, Justin Abdelkader had the puck while being draped by Bryce Salvador. Dumping it towards the net, Patrick Eaves just tipped it, causing it to go past Brodeur to tie the game at three.

In the shootout, Pavel Datsuyk and Zach Parise scored in the first round. Henrik Zetterberg, Jamie Langenbrunner, Todd Bertuzzi, and Travis Zajac all missed to go into bonus shootout. In the fourth round, Mike Babcock sent out Ville Leino, whose shot was saved nicely by Brodeur. Patrick Elias went backhanded, froze Osgood, held the puck for one more beat, then put it underneath Osgood's outstretched left arm.

The Wings will stay in the Tri-State area to play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden Sunday night. The Rangers beat the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night in Buffalo 2-1.

Player of the game: Patrick Eaves. Here's the question no one seemed to ask Mike Babcock after the game: why did he send Ville Leino (1 shot, 2 giveaways, -2) out for the fourth round of the shootout and not Patrick Eaves (1 goal, 1 assist)?

Eurotwins Unite!

MrNorrisTrophy — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:16:48 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

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Form of: desperation!

Mike Babcock decided to put Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg on the same line for tonight's game against the New Jersey Devils. Is it a sign of desperation? I think so. But that's not to say that the desperation is necessarily a bad thing. We've all figured out at this point that this team simply cannot compete on the same level as last year's team. So why not put your best players together?

Zetterberg and Datsyuk will join their good ol' pal Tomas Holmstrom. The trio has a combined 26 goals (10 each for Homer/Z) and a total of 62 points this season. Datsyuk and Zetterberg have the most assists on the team so they can feed Holmstrom with passes or each other. The two have an undeniable chemistry and sense for where each other is on the ice so hopefully that will work out tonight.

Other news, Jonathan Ericsson WILL play tonight after the injury that forced him to leave against Edmonton. Jakub Kindl will start again tonight as Brian Rafalski will miss the contest against his former club. Eaves is back in and May is out. Osgood will start and so will Brodeur...gee, who has the advantage there?

Lines below from Ansar Khan of MLive.com:

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Leino-Cleary-Bertuzzi
Draper-Helm-Eaves
Miller-Abdelkader-Maltby
Lidstrom-Ericsson
Stuart-Meech
Kindl-Lebda

Predators Game Day Preview: Detroit @ Nashville

Dirk Hoag — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:03:52 -0000

More photos » by NIKLAS LARSSON - AP

The Detroit Red Wings have dominated the Central Division for almost two decades. Is this the year that Nashville can climb past them?

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REMINDER: Tonight's game has a special 6:00 Central start time, due to the national Versus broadcast (well, national except for those of us with DirecTV).

Well folks, the Nashville Predators (12-8-1) have played well over the last few weeks, winning 9 of their last 11 to reverse a woeful start to this 2009-10 season. Tonight, however, in front of a national audience, they face the biggest test of the season so far, their arch-nemesis from Detroit.

The Red Wings have always been the measuring stick for the Predators franchise, but this season, with an 11-6-4 record so far, Detroit has come back to the pack in the Western Conference. Is this a case of a team working the kinks out before tearing up the league in the second half, or is Detroit finally going to finish lower than 1st or 2nd in their division for the first time since the 1990-91 season?

Before diving into the preview after the jump, take a few moments to relive one of the greatest moments in Predators history - the "2 goals in 9 seconds" during the 2008 playoffs, when the Preds quickly took the lead late in Game 3 of the first round, and sent Dominik Hasek into retirement:

Are you ready, Predators fans?

Meet the Enemy

This year's edition of the Red Wings isn't exactly the same as in recent years. Free agent departures like Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson and Jiri Hudler have definitely shortened the talent pool up front, and injuries (most recently to Niklas Kronwall) have hurt as well. The goaltending has been sub-par for the second consecutive regular season.

But it's still Detroit, and thanks to a healthy Shots For & Against margin (34.1 to 27.8 per game) and the #7 offense in the NHL, they're still a very dangerous team. I asked MrNorrisTrophy from Winging It In Motown about how the Big Red Machine is rolling these days:

Detroit's level of play has been anything but consistent so far this season. In large part I chalk that up to the injuries and changes on the roster from the team last year. Originally many felt the team would be fine despite the loss of Hossa, Hudler, Samuelsson, Conklin but as the injuries have piled up to crucial guys like Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula and now Niklas Kronwall things might be even harder down the stretch.

The team has had monumental contributions from Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk and the most surprising success is Tomas Holmstrom. Holmstrom at one point looked as if his game was fading but he's found some sort of second wind at this point in his career and is scoring goals left and right. The defense was shaky at best early in the season but has started to gel more-until the Kronwall injury that is-and they're more aware of their responsibilities for rebounds and the like. Jimmy Howard has come on strong despite his slow start and has played a few truly incredible games. Chris Osgood has looked horrible at points this year and with the success of Howard we might be seeing a changing of the guard before the season is done.

The team has found a way to win, mainly with clutch performances and a tightened defensive game. Going forward, I think this team will only get better once Filppula, Franzen, Kronwall, and Williams (if he's able to) return to the line up.

Meet the Good Guys

The Predators are on fire, due mostly to a few key factors - excellent goaltending from Pekka Rinne, steady work by the defense corps to limit dangerous scoring chances, and a power play that has finally woken up. After his senseless "hooking" call against the Blue Jackets, I'm going to guess that Wade Belak goes back to the press box for tonight's game (update: confirmed), leaving the lines as follows:

Forwards

Sullivan - Arnott - Dumont

Erat - Santorelli - Hornqvist

Ward - Legwand - Smithson

Thuresson - Goc - Tootoo

Defense

Suter - Weber

Bouillon - Klein

Hamhuis - Franson

There is a question as to how the Goc and Santorelli lines will shake out; there's been considerable shuffling of the wingers alongside them.

Even Strength Play

	5-on-5 Team Data from Behind the Net
Team	GP	GF	GA	GF/60	Shots For/60	Sht %	GA/60	Shots Ag/60	Save %	+/- per 60
Detroit	21	41	39	2.5	32.2	7.8	2.4	27.4	.913	+0.1
Nashville	21	29	36	1.7	29.4	5.9	2.2	28.5	.924	-0.4

This is as big an indication as any that Detroit's dominance has slipped this season - typically they've been one of the best even-strength teams in the NHL. The Predators continue to be hamstrung by the lowest 5-on-5 shooting percentage in the league; if they had a more typical shooting percentage (around 8%), they'd have about 10 more goals this season, and probably be nipping at Chicago's heels atop the Central Division.

There is a bright side here, however, as Detroit's goaltending in this situation is among the worst in the league, so perhaps the Nashville shooters can break through.

Detroit PP vs. Nashville PK

With guys like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Lidstrom and Rafalski on the job, the Red Wings are enjoying their usual success on the power play (5th in the NHL at 23.9%), while the Predators have been steadily climbing through the ranks this month, having reached 16th in penalty killing at 79.7% (they were 30th for a while in the early going). The Red Wings draw a fair number of penalties, too, so discipline will be key for Nashville, which has done an excellent job staying out of the box so far.

Nashville PP vs. Detroit PK

With 2 power play goals against Columbus Saturday night, the Preds have continued a recent hot streak that has provided a badly-needed boost to their overall offensive performance. Having languished under 10% throughout October, the PP has now climbed to 15.7% - only good for 25th in the league, but a fair step higher than just a few weeks ago. Detroit's penalty kill has been a sore point, 26th in the NHL as they've had to rotate a number of forwards through that group.

Goaltending

~~Jimmy Howard has been getting much of the work lately and is expected to get the start tonight for Detroit~~ According to the Detroit Free Press, Chris Osgood will start tonight for the Red Wings:

Chris Osgood

#30 / Goalie / Detroit Red Wings

Height: 5-10

Weight: 180

Born: Nov 26, 1972

	GP	MIN	W	L			GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Chris Osgood	13	710	6	3			32	2.70	327	295	.902	1

For Nashville, Pekka Rinne has been outstanding, with 5 straight victories and 9 in his last 10 decisions. John Glennon confirms this afternoon that Rinne gets the start tonight:

Pekka Rinne

#35 / Goalie / Nashville Predators

Height: 6-5

Weight: 206

Born: Nov 03, 1982

	GP	MIN	W	L			GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Pekka Rinne	14	780	9	4			31	2.38	361	330	.914	2

Summary

Can the Predators keep their momentum going and claw past the Red Wings into 3rd place in the Central in front of a national television audience? With Kronwall out of the lineup for Detroit, the key will be to aggressively challenge the Red Wings defense, while watching out for the elite players who will surely carry the burden of extra ice time.

And hey, we can always hope for a repeat of that rollicking good time from February 28 of last season...