Feb. 24 :: Kali Ma, Protect Us! We Are Her Children

We pledge our devotion to her with an offering of flesh… and blood!
Six pledge games down, six to go. The last two games haven’t yielded as much for the children, but we’re proud to say we’ve raised north of $4500 so far. There are a handful of game-specific pledges for tonight’s tilt, and every single one of them involves Steve Ott. If you have some pledges you’d like to include in tonight’s drive for Children’s Hospital of Michigan, shoot us an e-mail with the details and we’ll keep track as the night progresses…

WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN?
Wings. Stars. Thursday evening, 7:30pm in the only time zone that matters.

NOW WHERE WERE WE?
The last time these two teams met was December 29th, a 7-3 ass-whoopin’ by the Red Wings. Patrick Eaves dropped some curly fries on Hockeytown, and Jimmy Howard got his 20th win of the season. I’ve got $73 on another 7-3 victory. Any takers?

BEST NAME NOMINEE
Karlis Skrastins. No brainer.

THEIR LAST GAMES
:: Detroit couldn’t win their sixth in a row, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Fins on the final Wings Wings Tuesday of the regular season.
:: Dallas was shutout 1-0 against New Jersey on Tuesday. One of the hottest teams in the league taking advantage of one of the coldest.

EXPECTED LINEUP
By special request, the TPL Glossary is ready to jailsex your eyes.
Mulo — Zetterberg — Thunderchief
Scuttles — Datsyuk — Cleary
Draper — Helm — Miller
Sak Attack — Abdelkader — Holmstrom

Lidstrom — Stuart
Rafalski — Ericsson
Cirque — Kronwall

Howard
MacDonald

Holy Shit, There’s a Scratch?!
Jakub Kindl

Injuries
Mike Modano [wrist/Saturday]
Valtteri Filppula [knee/Saturday?]
Patrick Eaves [leg/day-to-day]
Chris Osgood [groin/March]

The TPL Name Game “Three Stars”
Disch: Jiri “Hey, Dr. Jones, No Time For Love. We’ve Got Company. No Time For Love, Dr. Jones!” Hudler
Petrella: Chris “I Keep Telling You, You Listen to Me More, You Live Longer” Chelios
Hollis: Jiri “The Biggest Trouble With Her is the Noise” Hudler
*Now it’s up to you! Think up your best names and throw them in the comments — the best one will be shared for all to enjoy on the TPL Facebook Page. The best of the best will be pitted against one another at season’s end, and the winner takes home a TPL Shirt of their choice.*

TIDBITS
:: Patrick Eaves left the Sharks game in the second period after a collision with Torrey Mitchell behind the net. He won’t play tonight and is out “a minimum of a week.”
:: Jan Mursak was recalled to take Eaves’ spot in the lineup.
:: Jason “Willi Vanilli” Williams returns to the Joe, this time as an invisible member of the Stars, allegedly wearing #27.
:: After starting the season red-hot, Dallas has faded a bit, going 1-8-1 in their last 10.
:: Mike Modano is well enough to return, but it was collectively decided that a return game against the Stars might be a bit much, opting instead to come back on Saturday against the Sabres. Valtteri Filppula also hopes to return on Saturday.
:: Dallas has beaten the Wings twice this season, and Loui Eriksson had the winner in both.
:: There are a lot of Red Wings prospects in TSN’s newest player rankings: Petr Mrazek (24th in OHL), Trevor Parkes (25th in QMJHL), Andrej Nestrasil (41st in QMJHL), and Tomas Tatar (32nd in AHL).

WHAT WE LEARNED AGAINST THE SHARKS
Budd Lynch Goals will get you every time.