Pre-Game: Detroit Hopes to Keep Rolling in Columbus

Detroit (4-2-1) @ Columbus (2-5-1)

The Red Wings should be caught between fatigue and satisfaction after avenging their home opening loss last night against the St. Louis Blues, so this evening's matchup against the Columbus BlueJackets could be very interesting.  With Detroit sitting in the middle of the conference, another win tonight would be extremely uplifting, bringing the Wings within 2 points of the Blues for 2nd in the Central.  Can the Red Wings stave off exhaustion in the tail-end of this back-to-back, or will the BlueJackets seize on a rare opportunity to hand Detroit a defeat?

The Red Wings will be looking for another great outing from its top lines tonight.  Henrik Zetterberg notched a hat trick against the Blues and Pavel Datsyuk scored the game-winning goal, while teammate Damien Brunner has been on a 5-game point streak.  Now that the big guns are firing, the defense has had a lot of weight lifted from its shoulders and has been able to get into more of a rhythm--nothing perfect, mind you, but it's a start.

There are no surprises in the lineup tonight, thought thankfully we will see Kent Huskins play tonight.  After a nasty hit from David Backes, Huskins confirmed that he feels fine and should be more than able to play this evening.  Jimmy Howard, who has been better than his stat lines would suggest, will start again tonight for the Wings.

Pre-Game: Wings Seek Revenge VS Blues

Detroit (3-2-1) VS St. Louis (6-1-0)

The Red Wings defend home ice tonight and hope to take a little redemption out of the hide of the St. Louis Blues.  St. Louis pummeled Detroit into oblivion in the season opener with a resounding 6-0 score, but the Wings have come quite a way since that dreadful night in Missouri.

After thumping the visiting Dallas Stars on Tuesday, Detroit will again defend JLA ice and look to move closer to the top of the division.  Currently Detroit and St. Louis sit 3rd and 2nd, respectively, in the Central division, and a win over their division foes would shorten the gap from 5 points to 3, and leaving Detroit just 4 points behind division leading Chicago.

The injury front for Detroit is still a concern, with Darren Helm and Ian White still out among many others, but captain Henrik Zetterberg, who is reportedly battling illness, will play tonight.  Jimmy Howard will undoubtedly get the start in goal again for the Red Wings this evening.

Will the still-depleted Red Wings strike back and take vengeance for their opening night embarrassment, or will St. Louis leave them singing the blues yet again?

Preview: Wings Look to Ground Blackhawks

Detroit (2-2-0) @ Chicago (5-0-0)

The Red Wings seem to have found life as they enter the 2nd week of play in the 2013 season, but now face a team with much different fortunes of late.  The Blackhawks' perfect start to the season has been a talking point in the media, but is no reason to underestimate a Detroit squad that looks like it is finally getting its wings back--both figuratively and literally.

Despite the shaky start, Detroit's top lines are starting to produce goals and the defence is starting to settle in--mostly.  Though there is still much concern about the play of Kyle Quincey--and, to a lesser extent, Brendan Smith--Brian Lashoff has played admirably and Kent Huskins has also helped fill the void on the blueline quite well.  The Red Wings' powerplay has also found some spark, but face a Chicago PK that has done its team proud thus far, killing 16 of 17.

Jimmy Howard will most likely have the start tonight in net and should continue his solid play from last week's games.  If Howard and the forwards can both get going at the same time, it should help ease the strain on an admittedly weak defensive unit.

A win tonight in Chicago for the Red Wings would deny the Hawks a record-setting evening, as they aim for their longest season-opening winning streak in club history.

So not only can the Wings creep closer to the top of the division, but they would do so while rubbing salt in the fresh wound of an old enemy.

Geek Week: A Look Back at Opening Week 2013

It's nice to go into a weekend and be able to smile with regards to one's favorite hockey team.

Welcome to Geek Week, a week-in-review article where the Detroit Red Wings go under the microscope and we take a closer look at some key points that arose over the last 7 days.  Last week was opening week for the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 NHL season, and the Red Wings were likely well aware heading into the start of this campaign how significant each game would be.

So, how did the Red Wings do in their first week back? Take a look:

01/19 @ STL: 0 - 6 (L)
01/21 @ CBJ: 4 - 3 (SOW)
01/22 V DAL: 1 - 2 (L)
01/25 V MIN: 5 - 3 (W)

A number of variables came into play with regards to last week's results.  Yes, there was lockout rust.  Yes, there were mounting injuries from all directions.  Yes, Nick Lidstrom is still retired.  The Red Wings looked out-worked in three of these four games, only really coming to life by the time Minnesota came to town.  Take away the final game of the week, and Detroit was outscored 11-5.  An even worse area to examine was the powerplay.  Until the game against the Wild, the Wings went an unimaginable 0 for 15 with the man advantage.  They also squandered a 5 on 3 in the Minnesota match, but ended the night 2 for 4, which earns them a bit of mercy.  The only consistent player on the ice for Detroit seemd to be Jimmy Howard, who has played better over these four games than his numbers would suggest.  In all four games, Howard has given his team chances to win, they just had not been responding in kind until Friday night.

Weekly Leaders
Goals: Datsyuk, Bertuzzi, Brunner (2)
Assists: Datsyuk, Kronwall (4)
Points: Datsyuk (6)


Successful Experiment of the Week
Out of everything that's happened this last week, the one aspect that has been the biggest surprise is the play of one Brian Lashoff.  Apologies to Damien Brunner, who has been sensational in his own right, but with the main concern for the Red Wings being their depleted blueline, the way Lashoff has stepped up to the task of playing in the NHL has been admirable.  There have been stretches where one can make the argument that Brian Lashoff has been the best Detroit defenseman on the ice.  As someone on Twitter mentioned, management needs to talk to this kid and tell him to look into Metro Detroit housing, because if he keeps playing like this he isn't going anywhere.

Failed Experiment of the Week
Most of last week was dismal for Wings fans, but the bane of many was number 27 in red, Kyle Quincey.  How far can one fall?  Quincey started his career in Detroit and was a promising looking young defender, but after he was sent away, then brought back at arm-and-leg prices, the return was far from prodigal.  Kyle struggled at the end of last year and many felt (and hoped) that he just hadn't been given enough time to gel with his teammates and get back into the system properly.  Sadly, that does not seem to be the case, as Quincey seems worse this season than he was in the last.  In four games he is -2, despite Detroit having scored 5 goals in last night's game.  Apparently that was just good enough to erase everything except the two terrible breaks he gave up to St. Louis rookie Vladimir Tarasenko in the season opener.  Some fans think fellow blueliner Brendan Smith is also struggling at the start of this season, but at least Smith has kept himself out of the penalty box all but once this year thus far.

Key Ingredient
If the Minnesota game showed Hockeytown fans anything, it showed that health may be the dealbreaker for the Red Wings.  Todd Bertuzzi's return to the lineup was greeted with an onslaught of Detroit goals the likes of which was not even fathomable over the previous three contests.  The defense is still very banged up, and it will take a lot of effort for the Wings to keep themselves competitive as more and more bodies get back to 100%.

With the first week of the season behind us, there is still a little bitterness in the back of the throat, but the week ended on a high note, and promises bigger and better things to come.  Next week looks like this:

01/27 @ CHI
01/29 V DAL
02/01 V STL
02/02 @ CBJ

Not a favorable week by any stretch, but one that Detroit can walk away from on top.  With momentum now on their side, Detroit must keep the energy going and pile on more wins now if they want to keep themselves in the playoff picture.