Jan 5 :: Peking Duck…Get Your Crispy Peking Duck!

The Red Wings and Ducks meet for the third time this season. Tuesday. 10pm. Get a nap, it’s a late one, grandpa.

1. What’s this? Three days off in between games? Almost enough time to get some bodies back in the lineup. Last I heard, Zetterberg’s a maybe.

2. This is the second in a five-game road trip. Seven points is a nice little benchmark. We’re 28.6% of the way there. And this is a game the Wings should win.
3. Perhaps we’ll see Chris Osgood somewhere during this trip, but Babcock said that as long as Howard’s playing well, he’s the guy. Have fun charting those faceoffs, Chris!

The last time these squads met was December 11th. The Red Wings were 3-2 winners at the Joe. You may remember it as the first of back-to-back Bertuzzi two-goal efforts, and the night I had crow shoved down my neck. Jimmy Howard was in net, and Ericsson/Zetterberg weren’t hurt yet. The teams also met on November 14th, and the Wings were 7-4 winners, on the strength of a Henrik Zetterberg Curly Fry effort.

Jimmy Howard has played all but 121 of the 602 minutes that followed (that’s 79.9%). Rob told the best story in the history of the world in celebration.

For the second game in a row, we’re seeing a repeat from a few weeks ago. Former Red Wing Kyle Calder is a member of the Ducks organization. Brad May, Todd Bertuzzi, and Drew Miller are all former Ducks. I picked Dan Sexton as the Best Name Nominee on a roster full of not-so-exciting names. In the current TPL Best Name poll at the top of the page, he’s out behind the woodshed getting his ass kicked by Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond.

–Detroit defeated Phoenix, 4-1, on Saturday.

–Anaheim lost to Chicago, 5-2, on Sunday.

–Detroit Red Wings :: 21-14-6 (3rd in Central, 9th in West) :: 8-7-4 on the road.

–The Mighty Cake-Eaters of Anaheim :: 16-19-7 (5th in Pacific, 13th in West) :: 11-8-2 at home.

Corey Perry :: Ryan Getzlaf :: Bobby Ryan :: Luis Mendoza :: Scott Niedermayer :: Saku Koivu :: Jonas Hiller :: The Fat Kid from GoodBurger

Thanks to Real Khan (not Fake Khan – who is actually much more accessible and timely) for the lines from practice on Monday:

Bertuzzi — Datsyuk — Holmstrom (Zetterberg working in)

Ritola — Filppula — Miller (Cleary working in)

Draper — Helm — Eaves

Maltby — Abdelkader — Leino (May working in)

Lidstrom — Rafalski

Lebda — Stuart

Meech — Janik

Howard (starts)

Osgood

Jason “Love Fool” Williams

Niklas “Mr. Wendal” Kronwall

Jonathan “All That She Wants” Ericsson

1. Yup. Jimmy Howard for the sixth time in a row. Maybe he’s pissed he was passed over for the third spot on the US Olympic team.

2. This is the official start of the second half. Time for Nick Lidstrom to get some goals.

3. With all these players set to come back this week, who is going to distance themselves from the rest of the pack and keep his spot in the lineup? It’s go time for Drew Miller, Ville Leino, Justin Abdelkader, Kirk Maltby, and to a lesser extent, Patrick Eaves.
4. All signs point to a Red Wings advantage: better record, longer break since last game, current streak. But, this is why games aren’t played on paper, so a strong effort will still be necessary.

Homer is (still) the best in the business from 18 inches away from the net.

FOWL WE COVET (JJ Special)

It’s always been Getzlaf. And I’m tired of that shit. I asked JJ for input. His response:

Bobby Ryan. He was drafted right behind Crosby, but allowed to develop in the minors. I feel he needs to be saved from that organization before he’s turned full douchebag by Corey Perry and Scott Niedermayer. Much like Luke Skywalker about Darth Vader or that creepy proctologist you’ll never visit again, I say “there is good in him, I can feel it.”