Game Day #49 – Kings @ Red Wings Preview

Los Angeles Kings v Detroit Red Wings (Joe Louis Arena)

Time: 4.00 PM

TV: Fox Sports West

Enemy reading: Winging it in Motown

Wings (projected) lineup:

Nyquist-Zetterberg-Abdelkader
Jurco-Sheahan-Bertuzzi
Tatar-Emmerton-Miller
Cleary-Glendening-Eaves
Kronwall-Smith
Quincey-DeKeyser
Lashoff-Kindl
Howard
Injured: Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, Darren Helm, Jonas Gustavsson, Jonathan Ericsson, Daniel Alfredsson, Stephen Weiss; Scratched: Mikael Samuelsson

Kings (projected) lineup:

Brown – Kopitar – Carter
Frattin – Richards – Williams
King – Stoll – Lewis
Clifford – Fraser – Nolan

Muzzin-Doughty
Regehr-Voynov
Mitchell-Martinez

Quick

Injured: Matt Greene; Scratched: Linden Vey, Tanner Pearson

Game Notes:

• The last time I saw the Kings play in Detroit, Alec Martinez tied the game in the last minute and then the Kings lost anyway and I got sassed by a lot of people with really bad hair, so…I just felt like sharing that with all of you.
• The Wings are banged up pretty bad. I guess that’s what happens when you have a team of centenarians. So on the one hand, it is perhaps understandable that they haven’t scored a goal in a week (not since they beat the Kings). On the other hand, Pavel Datsyuk is their only actually legitimately good player who’s injured, so let’s not get overwhelmed with compassion here or anything.
• 21 year-old Slovakian Olympian Tomas Jurco has gotten the call up due to the rash of injuries for the Wings. Jurco was a little shaky on the play that allowed the Rangers their game-winning goal over the Wings on Thursday, but he is a talented winger with pretty insane puck-handling skills. [More on Jurco from the lovely and talented Winging it in Motown]
• Center Cory Emmerton was also a recent call-up due to the injury bug. He’s been sort of a bubble player and he’s probably extra-motivated to put in a good showing now that he’s got an opportunity.
• Reminder that the Wings getting Mikael Samuelsson for two years at $3 mill per was sneakily one of the worst signings of the 2012 off-season.
• Looks like the Kings will keep everything intact from their victory the other night against the Blues. Pearson and Vey remained on the ice for extra work in today’s optional skate.
• Detroit’s been an uncharacteristically mediocre possession team this year and haven’t been setting the world on fire of late either:
• Matt Greene isn’t even travelling on this road trip, so let us all raise our hands to the heavens and give thanks that awkward giraffe/eyebrow model Jake Muzzin wasn’t suspended for his (admittedly high and dangerous) hit on Vladimir Sobotka. The last I heard about Greene is that he was being evaluated for concussion symptoms – no word on him since.
• Also, in case you haven’t noticed you unpatriotic American, this game features not one but TWO Team USA goaltenders. Winner gets to fly away on an eagle.
• Prediction: 4-1 because fuck Detroit.