October 15th – Red Wings/Kings Gameday

Tonight's Game

LOS ANGELES KINGS 4-2
VERSUS
DETROIT RED WINGS 2-3

It’s cold outside.  It’s dark, windy and cold.  So, if there’s nothing to do tonight…there’s always hockey.  Red Wings/Kings, tonight at 7:30.  The game is on FS Detroit, with pregame coverage starting at 7.  On the radio, the game is on 97.1 in Detroit, and on the Red Wings’ radio affliates (find yours here: http://redwings.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=43974)

DETROIT RED WINGS

The Red Wings are back home, and trying to bounce back from a bad loss in Buffalo. Team members are admitting that they are not playing their best hockey right now, and coach Mike Babcock puts the blame on a lack of hustle.

“In three of the five games we played this year, we’ve been outskated,” Babcock told the Free Press. He added that “if we want to have success and want to feel good about ourselves … we’ve got to work as 20 guys, and we’ve got to be diligent with our system play, and that will allow our skill to come out. Right now, it’s not good enough.”

Right now, that system play is needed more than ever with the injuries sustained by the Red Wings in recent games. Pavel Datsyuk is day-to-day with an upper body injury, and will not be playing tonight. Niklas Kronwall has a sore leg, but he feels ready to play. On the other side of the injury spectrum, Draper, Maltby, and Lebda are all returning from a scratched game off. Considering the play of Draper and Maltby in the season’s first four games, it looks like they could be leading by example with their hustle.

One combination that could be fun to watch is tonight’s fourth line of Holmstrom, Draper, and Maltby. All of these veterans have had great starts to the year, and it’ll be interesting to see what they can do together. Hopefully, we could see another highlight goal just like each of them have produced already this season.

Chris Osgood is starting in net tonight, for the fourth straight game. Since returning from Sweden, Osgood has been in net every night, with Jimmy Howard only getting action late in the game against Buffalo.

Players To Watch

Todd Bertuzzi – With all of the injuries for the Red Wings, Todd Bertuzzi will be playing his first game on the top line tonight. While the promotion is only temporary, tonight could be a turning point in Bertuzzi’s time on the Wings. With a good game tonight, he could really show that he’s a top-six forward again.

Darren Helm – Helm is back in the lineup after his training camp injury. Let’s hope that his speed and work ethic rubs off on the Wings, as he is perfect for Babcock’s style of play. While he is still a work in progress, in both NHL maturity and injury recovery, Helm could provide a good spark tonight.

Line Combinations

Bertuzzi-Zetterberg-Cleary
Leino-Filppula-Williams
Helm-Abdelkader-Eaves
Holmstrom-Draper-Maltby

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Stuart
Ericsson-Lebda

Osgood

LOS ANGELES KINGS

The Kings are off to a great start to the season, with a 4-2 record starting to validate the team’s thoughts of the first playoff run in a long time for the team. Los Angeles’ last game was a 4-2 loss in New York, as backup goalie Erik Ersberg let in some weak goals in the loss.

Tonight, starter Jonathan Quick returns to the lineup in Detroit. Quick is 4-1 on the season, but does not have good stats at all. He’s 19th in GAA with three goals per game, and has a save percentage below 90%. Coming into Detroit, those numbers will have to be improved, or the Kings could not beat the high-shooting Red Wings.

The Kings’ first-line is one of the reasons Los Angeles is thinking of the playoffs. Ryan Smyth, Anze Kopitar, and Justin Williams have given the Kings a good top line for the first time in years, and their play has proved the hype correct. This high scoring line could prove a little troublesome for Chris Osgood and the defense tonight.

On defense, the Kings have a pair of good defensemen in Jack Johnson and Drew Doughty. While I talk about Johnson below, Doughty is another high draft pick expected to anchor the Kings’ defense for years to come. Picked 2nd overall in 2008, he has matured into a solid defenseman that still has a lot of potential. If the Kings’ young defense can keep progressing through the season, this team could do some damage in the playoffs.

Players To Watch

JMFJ.

Jack Johnson – The Kings bring in one of Michigan’s greatest defenseman, as Jack Johnson plays at the Joe again. Johnson, known for big hits and physical play during his time at Yost, is having a good start to the year, with around 22 minutes of ice time per night and a goal with two assists already. He’s quickly maturing into a top defenseman, and hopefully will start bringing the open-ice hits to the NHL like he brought those hits to the CCHA.

Ryan Smyth – What a couple years will do for you. After the Oilers’ Stanley Cup run of 2006, it seemed as if Smyth was destined to be an Oiler for life. A native of Banff, Alberta, who wanted to stay with the team, Smyth seemed like a natural leader for a quickly maturing team. Instead, a very minor squabble over contracts (rumored to be over only $100,000) led to Smyth’s trade to the NY Islanders. This was followed by two years in Colorado, and now a stint in Los Angeles. Smyth has been a great player throughout, but his case shows how quickly players can move around in today’s NHL.

Gameday Meal

As we get the colder weather rolling into Michigan, the leaves will be changing all throughout our great state. Up North, the highways will be beautiful to drive up, and the views will be spectacular. Out my window, on the shores of Lake Michigan, I can see dozens of different color shades throughout the town.

One of northern Michigan’s signature foods is the cherry, for which Traverse City’s annual cherry festival is held each year. As you may know, the Traverse Bay region is the Cherry Capital Of The World, after all. While there are numerous recipes with the fruit, cherries are great in their natural state too.

A fitting reason to have cherries as a Red Wings dish is that the red pigment in the fruit (anthocyanin) helps the body reduce pain, and reduce weight gain. These pigments also lower cholesterol, and lower the chance of heart disease. Just we all love our Red Wings in Michigan, we also love (and need to love) our red cherries too.

Prediction

While Chris Osgood had a bad night in Buffalo, he’ll be focused and ready for tonight. I don’t see him giving up too many goals. For LA though, Jonathan Quick has won games despite his play all year long. With the usual Red Wings barrage of shots, I think we could be in for a high-scoring night from the Red Wings. To reverse the memories of Tuesday night, it’ll be…

Red Wings 6, Kings 1.  Enjoy your night, and go Wings.