Pre-game hype: Detroit Red Wings at Colorado Avalanche, October 24

October 24, 12:54 PMDetroit Red Wings ExaminerMike Mouat

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Detroit Red Wings 

(3-3-2, 8 points, 4^th in Central, 11^th in Western Conference)

Who’s hot: Coach Mike Babcock might be the hottest Red Wing right now as his team has let two games slip away from them in the past week. The last time these two teams met Colorado turned a 2-0 third period deficit into a 4-3 shootout win at Joe Louis Arena led by Cody McCleod’s two goals and Matt Duchene’s first NHL goal. On Thursday, the Red Wings lost 3-2 in overtime to Phoenix despite holding a 2-1 lead late in the third period. Henrik Zetterberg picked up two more assists in Thursday’s game and has six points in the last four games, and leads the Red Wings with nine points. Tomas Holmstrom has five goals in the last seven games, and Pavel Datsyuk returned to the lineup on Thursday joining Zetterberg and Holmstrom on the top line and had two assists.

Who’s not: The rest of the team. The second line of Ville Leino, Valtteri Filppula, and Jason Williams have a combined three points in the last three games. The third line of, Todd Bertuzzi, Kris Draper and Dan Cleary also have just three points combined in the last three games and minus-5. The defense as a group has turned the puck over 46 times in eight games, and the team is the third worst in the league with 96 turnovers. Chris Osgood has started six straight games, and is 3-1-2 with a goals against average of 3.01 and a save percentage of 0.899 during that stretch. He has played very well at times and then has let in some weak goals like Adrian Aucoin’s game-winner on Thursday. The Wings need consistently good, to really good, goaltending if they are to overcome their lost firepower through free agency this summer and the injury to Johan Franzen. And to that end Jimmy Howard will get his second start of the season. He lost his only other start 5-3 to St. Louis and looked shaky. Howard is 1-6 lifetime in the NHL with his only win coming back in 2005. 

What to watch for: The Red Wings have scored nearly as many goals on the powerplay, 10, as they have at even strength, 12. They also have one shorthanded goal and one empty net goal. They rely heavily on their powerplay to produce offense and are operating at a 27.8% success rate, which is fourth best. If Colorado stays out of the penalty box they eliminate one of Detroit’s biggest weapons. Meanwhile the Red Wings penalty killing has allowed eight goals on 32 opportunities (75%) and ranks 22^nd overall. Colorado’s powerplay is tied for first with a success rate of 28.6%, and has an advantage over Detroit statistically if they can get them into penalty trouble.

Who to watch for: The Red Wings reunited Holmstrom, Datsyuk and Zetterberg on their top line against Phoenix on Thursday and they collected five of a possible six points on their two goals. They have combined as the league’s best line at various times over the past two years and could spark the Red Wings. Mike Babcock has shuffled his defensive pairings and separated Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom in order to better spread the offense from the back end across the top two lines. Obviously this is a big start for Howard who has had plenty of time to think about his only start on October 3^rd.

Unsung Hero: Defenseman Brad Stuart leads the team in hits (27) and is second in blocked shots (12). He ranks third in time on ice per game (22:19) but is the leader in time one ice at even-strength (18:05) and shorthanded (3:47). In short, despite his minus-2 rating, he plays hard minutes against the other teams top lines, their power plays and sacrifices his body moreso than any other Red Wing. 

Line Combinations: As mentioned the fourth line has been in constant flux from game to game and Brad May will be in the lineup, although coach Babcock was not definitive in who was coming out it is likely going to be Abdelkader. As for the defense, I’m not convinced the juggling of the pairs was anything more than an experiment and that he will restore the regular units.

Tomas Holmstrom  - Pavel Datsyuk - Henrik Zetterberg  
Ville Leino - Valtteri Filppula - Jason Williams
Todd Bertuzzi  - Kris Draper - Dan Cleary
Brad May - Darren Helm - Kirk Maltby

Scratch: Justin Abdelkader - Patrick Eaves
 
Defensive pairings:
Nicklas Lidstrom - Brian Rafalski
Niklas Kronwall - Brad Stuart
Jonathan Ericsson - Brett Lebda

Scratch: Derek Meech

In goal:
Jimmy Howard (starting)
Chris Osgood

Injury Report: Johan Franzen had surgery to repair his torn ACL in his left knee and will be out of the lineup a minimum of four months. Defenseman Andreas Lilja is traveling with the team in order to see a couple of doctors and remains sidelined with concussion like symptoms caused by a fight by Nashville’s Shea Weber in February.

Colorado Avalanche (by Colorado Avalanche Examiner Brian Thompson)

(7-1-2, 8 points, 1st in Northwest, 1st in Western Conference)

Who’s hot:  None other than diaper dandy Ryan O’Reilly is arguably the hottest player on the Avalanche roster.  He has scored in six straight games, including multi point outings two of the last three.  He is skating with confidence and is now starting to develop a physical edge to his game.  O’Reilly is a deft distributor and a wonderful defensive player and penalty killer.  O’Reilly has nine points in nine games and is establishing himself as a respected NHL presence.

Who’s not:  Through the first ten games the mercurial Marek Svatos only has three points.  Svatos is maddeningly inconsistent.  The guy has wonderful hands and is an explosive skater.  So why does he only have three points, zero since October 13?

What to watch for:  With the sudden rash of injuries and the uninspired play of a couple of his forwards, Joe Sacco juggled the lines around against Carolina and seemingly struck gold.  The Avs got five goals last night and five different players had multiple points.  The third line of Wojtek Wolski, Ryan O’Reilly, and Chris Stewart was the Avs’ best line against the Hurricanes, with all three scoring two points apiece, with four assists and two goals.  Will Sacco stick with the lineup from last night or will Wolski reassume his customary spot on the top line?  We’ll know in a few hours.  Speaking of the top line, both Milan Hejduk and Paul Stastny put on a scoring clinic against Carolina, so if these two can continue this play tonight when the Wings come to the Pepsi Center, Detroit will have a hard time in its own end, especially if the third line can click like they did against Carolina.

Who to watch for:  Lost in all the offensive fireworks, the headline grabbing uber rookies, and the stellar play of Craig Anderson, has been the inspired play of Scott Hannan.  All he has done is lead the Avs in plus/minus with a +8, been a huge reason why the blue line is now stout, and paired with Kyle Quincey to be the classic offensive minded D paired with the stay at home badger who will help out whenever his wingers and D partner get caught up ice.  Hannan has been quietly spectacular all season, making timely defensive plays to break up scoring chances with an eerily calming ease.

Unsung/under the radar player:  Since he was brought up from Lake Erie on October 15, defenseman Ryan Wilson has played as well if not better than the other more established blue liners on the Avalanche.  Wilson plays with amazing poise and confidence despite the fact he has never played an NHL game before his call up.  He has shown an amazing amount of strength and tenacity along the boards that will make it very difficult for the Avs to send him back down once Liles and Salei get healthy.

Lineup:  Injuries and uninspired play has forced Sacco to juggle the lineup.  With Tucker out, the Avs called up 31-year-old Brian Willsie, who will assumedly take a spot on the fourth line.  But who knows, Sacco has been an evil genius so far this season with his line combinations.

Forwards:

Milan Hejduk-Paul Stastny-David Jones
Wojtek Wolski-Matt Duchene-Marek Svatos
Chris Stewart-Ryan O’Reilly-T.J. Galiardi
David Koci-Matt Hendricks-Brian Willsie

Defensive pairings

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

Goalies

Craig Anderson-Tyler Weiman

Injuries:  John Michael Liles will be out until November 1 with a shoulder injury…Cody McLeod has been placed on IR, retroactive to October 21, with an eye injury…Darcy Tucker was taken off the ice on a stretcher last night after a hit from Tuomo Ruutu in the second period.  Tucker is out indefinitely with a concussion…Tom Preissing is out until November with a knee injury…Ruslan Salei is out indefinitely with a back injury…Peter Budaj is day to day with flu like symptoms.