Wings and Preds meet up in Central Showdown
With a little over half of the regular season in the books the Red Wings and Predators have assumed the top two spots in the Central Division. Nashville currently has a 4 point lead over Detroit and is only 1 point behind Anaheim for the best record in the western conference after St. Louis smoked Anaheim tonight.
The last time Detroit and Nashville met up the Predators dominated play, winning 6-2. The Wings were listless in that game, so it will be interesting to see how they do in this game. I think Dominik Hasek will be in the net for Detroit, which should help Detroit’s chances. Joey MacDonald was the goaltender in the 6-2 loss but he received very little support from the skaters in front of him.
Tomas Vokoun has been good since coming back from injury. He has gone 3-0 and has allowed an average of 2.33 GAA and has a .913 save percentage. Vokoun has been announced as the starting goaltender for the game. I haven’t heard any word on whether Mathieu Schneider will be in the lineup as he has been nursing a sprained knee. Otherwise the Wings are healthy with the exception of Tomas Kopecky. But the rookie received some good news as he seems to be making good progress as his broken collarbone continues to heal. He could be available to the Wings in early March.
The Tennessean has an article on the Preds’ determination to win the division. They can certainly help themselves this month as they play a heavy tilt of games against Central Division foes:
Nine of Nashville’s 13 games this month are against division opponents, including one each against Detroit, Columbus and Chicago this week. The Predators are 13-3-1 against Central Division teams.
“You always want to beat [teams in] your division — it’s [a] four point [swing],” said Predators center Scott Nichol.
Chicago has cooled off after experiencing a brief improvement in play following a coaching change. Columbus and St. Louis are both playing competitive hockey. The Blue Jackets should also continue to improve with several players coming back from injury. So this will be an interesting stretch of games to see how the rest of the division matches up with the division-leading Preds.
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