About the Red Wings - 03-21-11
A preview of the Red Wings.
When and where: 7:30 p.m., Joe Louis Arena.
TV: Versus, TSN2, RIS.
Record: 43-21-8, 94 points. The Red Wings are in second place in the Western Conference and first place in the Central Division
Leading Scorer: Henrik Zetterberg, 72 points (20 goals, 52 assists).
Last Game: 3-1 road loss to the Predators, Saturday. Jimmy Howard (right) made 36 saves for the Red Wings.
Last Game against the Penguins: 4-1 road loss, Jan. 18. Tyler Kennedy had two assists for the Penguins.
Red Wings Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Zetterberg. He has 10 points in nine career game against the Penguins.
Ex-Penguins on the Red Wings: None.
Ex-Red Wings on the Penguins: None.
Useless Red Wings Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The only defenseman to lead the Red Wings in single-season scoring was former Penguin Paul Coffey. He had 58 points in the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season.
Best Red Wings Video We Could Find: Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk making Sharks forwards Ryane Clowe and Mike Grier slam int each other with a subtle deke:
{youtube width="480" height="390"}iCKLRkqvCdM{/youtube}
Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (31-18-5, 2.38 GAA, .917 SV%) for the Penguins and Jimmy Howard (34-14-5, 2.74 GAA, .910 SV%) for the Red Wings.
Injuries: For the Penguins, forward Mark Letestu (shoulder) is doubtful. Forwards Mike Comrie (hip), Sidney Crosby (concussion), Nick Johnson (concussion), Evgeni Malkin (knee), Eric Tangradi (concussion) and defenseman Brooks Orpik (finger) are on injured reserve. For the Red Wings, forwards Pavel Datsyuk ("lower-body"), Johan Franzen (groin) and Jiri Hudler ("upper body") are day to day. Goaltender Chris Osgood (groin) is on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' primary lines and defensive pairings against the Rangers yesterday were:
James Neal - Dustin Jeffrey - Alex Kovalev
Chris Kunitz - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Matt Cooke - Maxime Talbot - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Chris Conner
Zbynek Michalek - Paul Martin
Kris Letang - Ben Lovejoy
Deryk Engelland - Matt Niskanen
The Red Wings primary lines and defensive pairings against the Senators were:
Dan Cleary - Henrik Zetterberg - Todd Bertuzzi
Valtteri Filppula - Tomas Holmstrom
Drew Miller - Mike Modano - Justin Abdelkader
Kris Draper - Darren Helm - Patrick Eaves
Nicklas Lidstrom - Brad Stuart
Niklas Kronwall - Jonathan Ericsson
Jakub Kindl - Brian Rafalski
Notes:
-This is just a hunch... but don't expect Matt Cooke to play tonight. Or in the next several nights.
-Kovalev has 349 career points with the Penguins.
-Staal has 97 career assists.
-Letang has 96 career assists.
-On account of injuries and salary cap restrictions, the Red Wings will dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
-If you think the Penguins' horrendous power play might spring to life tonight, think again. The Red Wings have a success rate of 91.4% on the penalty kill in their past nine games.
-Ruslan Salei will return to the Red Wings' lineup after missing three games to attend to the birth of his third child.
-Holmstrom has 499 career points.
-Zetterberg has 547 career points.
-Filppula has 96 career assists.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 7:30 p.m.
(Photo: Claus Andersen/Getty Images)