Open Game Thread
Nashville Predators at Detroit Red Wings
March 30, 2012 – 7:30 PM
TV: FS+
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In a game with playoff implications, the Red Wings host the Nashville Predators tonight.
The two teams seem destined for a first-round matchup but the matter of who will have home ice is still up in the air. The Red Wings currently sit a single point up on the Predators, with Nashville having a game in hand.
Jimmy Howard returns to the Detroit crease after missing four more games with a groin injury. Jordan Pearce was sent back to the Grand Rapids Griffins yesterday, so Ty Conklin will be the backup.
On defense, Jakub Kindl is back in and Kyle Quincey will sit. Mike Babcock says the defense will rotate for the rest of the season now that all seven defensemen are healthy.
Up front, Gustav Nyquist remains in and Jan Mursak is the healthy scratch.
The Red Wings had an optional skate this morning, which drives me nuts. Either the entire team is too hurt to practice or they don’t recognize that they have systemic problems they need to work on. The way I see it, they’re losing games because of the system issues (special teams, especially) so they can either continue to do that and remain banged-up because the players who need to rest still have to play games, or they can bench everyone who’s hurt so they all get healthy, play the kids from GR, and lose anyway. I like the chance to get healthy.
That’s my rant for the day, likely to be repeated later.
Game time is 7:30 on FS+. I may not be around here for it but I will be watching.
I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this one. It was such a slow game from start to finish that I can’t tell if the Wings were unprepared or they got outplayed or what.
It actually had the feeling of a Game One of a playoff series between two teams that don’t know each other well. Where both teams kind of try to figure each other out and not make any major mistakes in the meantime. The problem for the Wings is that they made their mistakes but then never tried (or seemingly never tried) to open the game up.
I will admit that right now I have very little confidence in this team. Playing like they did tonight, they’re out in the first round. Playing like they can play, they can go far, but we haven’t seen that from them in awhile.
Well… The game has been pretty boring… And then they screw around a let a weak one go in. They should have been at said morning skate.