Mar 5 :: Red Wings remain TPL’s Greatest Love of All

TPL Exclusive: Good Whitney Houston will return if the Wings make the playoffs


WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN?
The Red Wings and Predators meet for the fourth of six times this season. Puck drops at 7:30pm Eastern. The Wings are 2-1 against SMASHVILLE! 

H2H IMPLICATIONS
Each goal tonight is worth at least $23.
Matching TPL’s pledge of $2 per goal tonight are Natalie of The Scrappy Octopus, Drew from Nightmare on Helm Street, Rob from Etched in Cold, Jennbikegirl, Brad Boswell, SigSegFalt, and Sara from A Neuie Perspective. Mike Serven has pledged $5 per goal and my pops is dropping 10% of the grand total. There are player-specific pledges as well, but they’ve become too numerous to list. The best-case scenario is: Todd Bertuzzi scoring from Nicklas Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom. That combo is worth $47.30


A win is worth at least $76.
Vicky Bash has pledged $26 per win, Mike Serven $19, Andy from Fight Night at the Joe $9, Beanie $5, Nurse Nitz $5, CaptNorris5 $5. Plus the same 10%. Krononymous will donate an extra $5 for a shutout
Game-specific pledges: 
The only game-specific pledge tonight was made by Jennbikegirl. She will donate $5 for every Niklas Kronwall hit against the Predators. 


WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?




1. Jimmy Howard is back in net after his poor effort on Wednesday.
2. Jonathan Ericsson in the press box, where he belongs, as Brett Lebda re-joins the active roster.
3. The Wings are coming off of one of their most uninspired performances in a season full of uninspired performances. 
NOW WHERE WERE WE?
On January 29th, the Wings beat the Predators 4-2. Tiberius was tending the crease, and the good guys got goals from Henrik Zetterberg, Drew Miller, Nick Lidstrom, and Jason Williams. 
OH, HI AGAIN / MEMBA ME?! / BEST NAME NOMINEE
Andy Delmore was the only player in either system to spend time in the other, but the Wings traded him to Calgary for Riley Armstrong on Deadline Day. Patric Hornqvist is Nashville’s BNN.

THEIR LAST GAMES
–Detroit got smoked by Vancouver, 6-3, on Wednesday. 
–Nashville beat Los Angeles, 4-2, last night. 
RECORDS
–Detroit Red Wings :: 29-22-12 (3rd in Central, 8th in West) :: 16-9-5 at home. 
–Smashville Saberteef :: 35-23-5 (2nd in Central, 7th in West) :: 17-12-3 on the road.  
PREDATORS SHOULD KNOW
New Predators Dustin Boyd and Denis Grebeshkov may feel they have something to prove :: This Fire Truck 


EXPECTED LINEUP
Franzen — Datsyuk — Holmstrom
Williams — Zetterberg — Cleary
Bertuzzi — Filppula — Miller
Draper — Helm — Eaves
Lidstrom — Rafalski
Kronwall — Stuart
Lebda — Lilja
Howard (starting)
Osgood
Inspiration for today’s nicknames came from our good friend Krononymous, who made an off-the-cuff remark that Johan Franzen was saving all his goals for Huet like a certain Whitney Houston song must have been talking about…
Scratches
Injuries
Honorable Mentions
Darren “I Believe The Children Are Our Future” Helm
Chris “Remind Us How We Used to Be” Osgood
Jimmy “I Decided Long Ago Never To Walk In Anyone’s Shadows” Howard
Kris “I Will Always Love You” Draper
Drew “Ain’t it Shocking What Love Can Do” Miller
Pavel “Shoop De Boop Shoop Shoop” Datsyuk
Johan “They Say I’m Crazy I Don’t Really Care” Franzen 
Henrik “I Have Nothing, Nothing, Nothing if I Don’t Have You” Zetterberg
Nicklas “I’ve Got More than Enough to Make You Drop to Your Knees” Lidstrom
Todd “I Remember the Way That We Touched I Wish I Didn’t Like it So Much” Bertuzzi
For Natalie :: Tomas “I Keep Your Photograph Beside My Bed” Holmstrom
QUICK THOUGHTS
1. James Tiberius Howard needs a much better effort after being pulled for only the second time this season. One might have thought this would have been a good time to go with Osgood, but obviously Mike Babcock has made up his mind about which of his goaltenders is the starter — and is going to ride him when points are needed.
2. Trying out a new defense corps tonight. Jonathan Ericsson is out, thanks to his various defensive woes, and is being replaced by Brett Lebda. The last time Big E was in the press box, it was pretty much unanimous in the blogosphere that that’s where he should have been. But only one game went by, as Nik Kronwall was re-injured. Perhaps this time he’ll be up there a bit longer, and will have a chance to watch and see that no, you are not, in fact, supposed to stand absolutely still in front of the net ignoring your assignment.
3. A little bit of a line shakeup. Bertuzzi drops to the third line (we’re on the right track…) after going twelve games without a goal. Such a shame… so promising… I’ll ask again. Who, WHO I SAY, could have possibly foreseen that he would need Pavel Datsyuk and/or Henrik Zetterberg feeding him to score goals? Unheard of.
4. Along those same lines, Jason Williams is rewarded for his goal on Wednesday with a chance to play with Z. How will he do with the increased minutes and better linemates?

WHAT WE LEARNED against the Canucks
Oh, piss on your red hat.

PREDATOR WE COVET (JJ Special)
Have you seen this badger? What a badass…