Apr 3 :: I can feel it burnin’…ooh, inside of me

On By mpetrella

WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN?
The Red Wings and Predators meet for the sixth and final time. Saturday. 2pm? Alright, 2pm. 
WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
Winners of seven in a row, Detroit now finds itself one point behind Nashville, with two games in hand, to take over 2nd in the division and 5th in the conference. Head-to-head, these teams play fairly evenly (evidenced by a 1-0 extra-innings shootout victory last week). With two games to make up two points, you’ve got to like where Detroit sits…
5 :: Nashville :: 96 points (3 games left)
6 :: Detroit :: 95 points (5 games left)
7 :: Los Angeles :: 94 points (5 games left)
8 :: Colorado :: 89 points (5 games left)
9 :: Calgary :: 89 points (4 games left) 
NOW WHERE WERE WE?
The Wings and Predators met the night after H2H and played to a 0-0 draw that Detroit eventually won in the 11th round of a shootout, off of Niklas Kronwall’s stick. 
OH HI AGAIN / MEMBA ME?! / BEST NAME NOMINEE
We didn’t have a pre-game up last time (muh bad), thanks to the festivities, but the second-to-last Nashville game stands as one of the best, most-win-bringing yet: Whitney Houston jams. We learned that, aside from who the greatest love of all belongs to, neither team has a former member of the other and Patric Hornqvist has a sweet name. The only way it’d be cooler is if you pronounced the V. 
THEIR LAST GAMES
–Detroit beat Columbus, 3-2, on Thursday. 
–Nashville beat St. Louis, 3-2, on Thursday. JINX!
RECORDS
–Detroit Red Wings :: 41-23-13 (3rd in Central, 6th in West) :: 24-10-5 at home.
–Nashville Predators :: 45-28-6 (2nd in Central, 5th in West) :: 22-14-3 on the road.
PREDATORS YOU SHOULD KNOW
EXPECTED LINEUP
Franzen — Datsyuk — Holmstrom
Bertuzzi — Zetterberg — Filppula
Miller — Draper — Williams
Eaves — Helm — Meech
Lidstrom — Rafalski
Kronwall — Stuart
Ericsson — Lilja
Howard (starting)
Osgood
Presented by John Parr:
Scratch
Brett “I Can See a New Horizon” Lebda
Injuries
Kirk “Underneath the Blazing Sky” Maltby
Dan “I’ll Be Where The Eagles Flyin'” Cleary
Honorable Mentions
Jonathan “Higher and Higher” Ericsson
Kris “Gonna Be Your Man in Motion” Draper
Darren “All I Need is a Pair of Wheels” Helms
Justin “Take Me Where My Future’s Lying” Abdelkader
James “Growing Up” Howard
Chris “You Don’t See the Writing on the Wall” Osgood
Todd “You’re Just a Prisoner and You’re Trying to Break Free” Bertuzzi
Niklas “You Broke the Boy In Me” Kronwall
Nicklas “But You Won’t Break the Man” Lidstrom
QUICK THOUGHTS
1. After an incredible shutout performance last Saturday against these Predators, Howard is in net for the 25th straight time. He isn’t showing fatigue, and he’ll need to be prepared for the grind of the post-season. I can’t wait to see how he responds with another high intensity game for playoff positioning.
2. The top two lines are clicking — Tuzz included. They’re going to need to be the guys and they’re picking a hell of a time to emerge from their relative slumber.
3. That said, the grinders need to be grinders. Cleary is hoping to be back this weekend, and then the Wings will be back to near-full strength, looking how they’d hope to look in the post-season.
WHAT WE LEARNED vs. the Blue Jackets
Todd Bertuzzi excels at volleyball, soccer… basically any sport that isn’t hockey.
PREDATOR WE COVET (JJ Special)
I asked J.J.’s input, as he’s ready to get back into the swing of things with daughter Emma, presumably, walking and driving by now. His response:

Just for kicks, I’m going to go with their young defenseman Cody Franson. The Predators’ arena announcer is the only person I’ve ever heard who doesn’t announce it exactly like Franzen. Having him on the blue line would lead to the awesomeness that is “Franson passes to Franzen, Franzen shoots, Save! Rebound! Franson picks up the loose puck and dishes back to Franzen and Franzen SCORES! on a beautiful pass from Franson!”

I can’t even begin to fathom the kinds of nicknames Red WIngs fans would come up with.

I submit Burro. Or Minimule. Mulito. Richard Franson. Franson, Missouri. Equus.