Pre-game hype: Colorado Avalanche at Detroit Red Wings, October 17, 2009

October 17, 12:54 AMDetroit Red Wings ExaminerMike Mouat

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The Detroit Red Wings

Who's hot: Tomas Holmstrom is off to his regular hot start with a goal in each of the last four games. Despite missing all of training camp with a groin injury and just now starting to get his legs under him Henrik Zetterberg leads the Red Wings in scoring with six points, and has a goal and and two assists in the last two games. Kirk Maltby has been in and out of the lineup and seen limited ice time, but still has four points in four games. The Red Wings penalty killing has been bad early in the season with a success rate of 73.1%, but has killed eight of nine penalties (88.8%) over the last two games. The powerplay has been hot all season and has converted six of 18 opportunities (33.3%) over the last four games.
 
Who's not: The goalies. Chris Osgood (3-2-0, 3.31 GAA, 0.884 SP) has played spectacular for periods of time, but hasn't put together good back to back starts. He was expectional against Washington last Saturday and was pulled half way through his next start against Buffalo on Tuesday. He followed that up with another good game on Thursday against the Kings turning aside 24 of 26 shots and was clutch when the Kings had the Red Wings on thier heels in the second half of the second period as they tried to get the equalizer. Jimmy Howard (0-1-0, 4.21 GAA, 0.872 SP) played well in relief of Osgood on Tuesday, but didn't look good at all in his only start.
 
Who to watch for: The second line of Ville Leino, Valtteri Filppula, and Jason Williams has been the team's best line on most nights. Coincidentally they are the only line that has remained intact through all six games. Filppula has been praised by Red Wings coach Mike Babcock as the team's best player so far. He has a goal and two assists so far, and is due for a break out game.
 
What to watch for: The second periods have been wide open affairs this season as the Red Wings have been outscored 11-8 in the six games. For some perspective, the eight goals by Detroit represents 42% of their offensive output and the 11 against is 52% of the goals they have allowed. 
 
Unsung/under the radar player: Nicklas Lidstrom has garnered plenty of attention for scoring his 1,000th point on Thursday, but Brian Rafalski leads the Red Wings defense in scoring with five points and the pairing of Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart have done a lot of the heavy lifting against the other team's top lines. 
 
Line Combinations: This is a tricky proposition as the Red Wings have dressed a different lineup in all six games this season and Babcock is apt to change his lines in warm-up if he doesn't like what he sees. 
 
Todd Bertuzzi - Henrik Zetterberg - Dan Cleary
Ville Leino - Valtteri Filppula - Jason Williams
Darren Helm - Justin Abdelkader - Patrick Eaves
Tomas Holmstrom - Kris Draper - Kirk Maltby
 
Defensive pairings:
Nicklas Lidstrom - Brian Rafalski
Niklas Kronwall - Brad Stuart
Jonathan Ericsson - Brett Lebda
 
In goal:
Chris Osgood (starting)
Jimmy Howard
 
Injury report: Pavel Datsyuk is listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury, and is not expected to play on Saturday. Johan Franzen had successful surgery to repair his torn ACL in his left knee on Friday and will be out of the lineup a minimum of four months. Also not returning any time soon is defenseman Andreas Lilja who has been sidelined since last February with concussion like symptoms.

The Colorado Avalanche ( by Colorado Avalanche Examiner Brian Thompson)

Who’s hot:  Very, very quietly, winger Milan Hejduk has strung together one of the strongest starts of his career.  Through seven games, Hejduk has pointed in all but the Toronto game and has logged a boat load of ice time on both the power play and penalty kill and has been the best forward for the Avs.  He leads all Avalanche forwards in ice time, assists, and PP goals.  Along with an unbelievably quick set of hands, Hejduk possesses one of the best two way games of any forward in the NHL.  His hockey IQ is at genius level and he has been a deadly playmaker all season and he is unflappable under pressure and at the point of attack.  His icy like demeanor has been an invaluable calming influence on a very young team.  In the grand scheme of Avalanche hockey, Hejduk is arguably the most valuable player on a red hot team.

Who’s not:  One of the slickest and most incendiary offensive weapons on the Avs’ roster is also its streakiest player.  Marek Svatos has oodles of potential and an enviable offensive skill set.  A veritable magician down low, a hallmark of his lightning quick hands and great lateral quickness, Svatos also has a tendency make horrible mistakes and turns invisible at times.  On a team that as a collective is playing as well as the Avalanche, and frankly far exceeding everyone’s expectations, it is difficult to highlight a player as being “cold”.  But Svatos, for all his dynamic skating ability and slick hands, has a +/- of -6, has not scored a goal since the Boston game, and is not playing as well as the rest of his teammates.  Though not playing entirely “cold” right now, Svatos certainly isn’t “hot”. 

Who to watch for:   Every time the puck touches his stick blade, everyone holds their breath in anticipation.  That is what Matt Duchene brings to the table and why he has captivated Avalanche nation.  His skating ability is second to none and his puck handling skills are truly elite.   Yet there he sits, goalless through seven games, one behind fellow rookie Ryan O’Reilly.  Duchene has been tantalizingly close the depositing his first NHL goal, most on brilliant, jaw-dropping individual efforts that were stymied only by equally brilliant goal tending.  With every shift you get the impression Duchene’s frustration level is getting higher yet you also get the feeling that his first tally could open a floodgate.  That is how dangerous Duchene has looked thus far, a streaking highlight reel waiting to happen.

What to watch for:  The third line for the Avs, featuring T.J. Galiardi, David Jones, and Cody McLeod has been arguably the best line at times and the team’s top forechecking unit.  These three bring a hard-nosed edge to their game and have given opposing defensemen all they can handle, especially in Galiardi’s case.  Another potentially fascinating aspect to Saturday’s game is the presence of Avalanche arch enemy Todd Bertuzzi on a Red Wings team that at one point was one half of the nastiest rivalry in sports in its heyday.  Not many players are left from the ugly night when Bertuzzi broke Steven Moore’s neck back in 2004 but the memory is still seared into the collective conscience of most Avs’ fans.  Can the presence of Bertuzzi, and the baggage therewith, resurrect an epic rivalry that has mostly burnt out since 2002?  As an avid fan of bloodletting rivalries, here is hoping the answer is yes.

Unsung/under the radar player:  With an almost eerie silence, the much maligned defenseman Brett Clark is off to his best start in years, amassing four points (1, 3) in seven games, all on the power play.  Clark has a +/- of +2 and is averaging nearly 19 minutes of ice time every night.  His play overall has dramatically improved over last year and he has temporarily silenced his many critics.

Line combinations and pairings:

Wojtek Wolski-Paul Stastny-Milan Hejduk
Darcy Tucker-Matt Duchene-Marek Svatos
Cody McLeod-T.J. Galiardi-David Jones
David Koci-Ryan O’Reilly-Matt Hendricks

Defense

Adam Foote-Kyle Quincey
Brett Clark-Kyle Cumiskey
Scott Hannan-Ryan Wilson

Goalies

Craig Anderson-Peter Budaj

Injuries:  John Michael Liles got a scare but the news on Wednesday was good.  Liles should only miss the next two weeks and should be back in the lineup November 1 at Vancouver or November 4 at Phoenix…Ruslan Salei is on the IR and is out indefinitely with a bad back…Tom Preissing had arthroscopic surgery on his knee and is out until late  October/early November.