Wings lead the Western Conference
After beating the Nashville Predators, 4-2, tonight, the Detroit Red Wings have finally topped the Preds in the Central Division and now lead the Western Conference. While I’m certainly pleased that the Wings won, this means that the Wings would face Calgary if the playoffs started tomorrow. I’d much rather play Dallas who is sitting in the number 5 seed and who Nashville would play if the playoffs were to start tomorrow. As we all know, there is still 11 games left for Detroit so things will most likely change in the standings between now and the end of the regular season.
Like I mentioned in my last post, I could not watch the game due to my Econ 101 exam being at the same time. So these comments are coming from what I’ve read in recaps and the offensive scoresheet on NHL.com.
In last night’s game (also against the Preds), rookie Jiri Hudler scored the game winning goal. Tonight, he scored two of the four goals including the GWG.
”I thought we did a good job against their top guys,” Predators coach Barry Trotz said. ”(Pavel) Datsyuk didn’t really hurt us in the two games.
”Hudler is not the first guy you think of, but he really hurt us. He was the difference in both games.”
…
”It’s not like he just turned the switch,” Babcock said. ”He’s getting better and better.
”He has a chance because of his heart, skill and ability to be a difference-maker.”
The other two Wings’ goals came courtesy of defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and forward Kirk Maltby. Maltby has five goals this season, two of which have come in the last two nights. It’s nice to see Malts chip in offensively once in awhile (admittedly, his goal tonight was on an open net in the last 40 seconds). Another interesting note about Maltby, he currently leads the Wings in hits with 110.
Injury updates…
Uh oh. The injury list keeps growing. According to the game recap, Valtteri Filppula left the game with a lower body injury. Head coach Mike Babcock says that it isn’t serious, but I’ve heard him say that so many times when it was serious that I don’t believe him anymore.
“The guys are giving him a hard time already; a young kid like that, he’ll bounce back,†Babcock said after the Wings’ 4-2 victory over Nashville. “He got a shot off the foot; it’s not broke. It hurt, and he can’t put any weight on it, but he’ll be fine in a couple of days.â€
So here is the most recent list of who is out with injuries for the Wings: Todd Bertuzzi (back), Henrik Zetterberg (back), Johan Franzen (upper body), Dan Cleary (sprained knee), Danny Markov (upper body), Tomas Kopecky (collarbone), and now Filppula (lower body).
Unfortunately, things aren’t looking so hot with Zetterberg’s back.
Zetterberg hopes to return before the playoffs begin April 11, but isn’t really confident he will. ”I’ve never had a back injury before,” he said.
What really sucks is that Hank hasn’t even skated yet so it would seem that his return is farther off than Bertuzzi, who is supposedly returning after the Wings’ road trip to Western Canada. According to Ansar Khan at MLive.com, Zetterberg is going to see a back specialist later this week to get an update on his inflamed disc.
“We got a target area of one or two games for every player except for Henrik,†Holland said. “He’s the only one we’re really uncertain on.â€
If this is any consolation for the Wings’ number of injuries, the Predators are also having their fair share. In last night’s game, Martin Erat sprained his knee and will be out for about four weeks after a collision with teammate Jason Arnott. On top of that, Peter Forsberg is still out with an upper body injury. The Preds’ Steve Sullivan (back) and Scott Hartnell (foot) are also out with injuries. These Wings-Preds games might be a lot more lopsided if one team had all their injuries and the other was almost completely healthy.
Links
Detroit News article
TSN.ca - AP game recap
Game thoughts @ Gorilla Crouch
IwoCPO @ Abel to Yzerman is rethinking his stance on Jiri Hudler
On the Forecheck liveblogged the action
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March 15th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
[…] … Before the game, FSN had an interview with Jiri Fischer. He looked and sounded great, but he isn’t any closer to finding answers on his condition. He still wears the defibrillator and still hasn’t ruled out a return to hockey. Good to see him after so long. … Todd Bertuzzi has been sent down to Grand Rapids to practice with the Griffins while the Wings make their trip to Canada. He cannot play for the Griffins due to stipulations in the CBA, but the Wings obviously wanted him to stay in shape while they’re gone. They didn’t want him to fly out with them because the flight could be problematic for his back. … All you anti-Wings folks out there might like this: for the second intermission, FSN showed a feature entitled “Ken Holland on Building the Empire.” … Gorilla Crouch … Abel to Yzerman … Behind the Jersey … On the Forecheck. […]
March 16th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
[…] Behind the Jersey gives us a re-cap of how the Wings made their way to the top of the Western Conference. […]