Jan. 23 :: You Are Part Of A League of Morons

WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN?
At the behest of Disch, we continue our theme of Brad Pitt inspired pregames this week. “Burn After Reading” gets us set for the fifth of six matchups between the Wings and Blues. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a postgame wrap-up too! (Sorry about Saturday folks.) The NBC Sports Network is your home for coverage tonight.

WHERE WERE WE?
:: Detroit scratched out a 3-2 shootout win over the BJ’s in Detroit on Saturday.
:: The Blues dropped the Sabres on Saturday, 4-2.
:: In the four previous meetings, the home team has won each time. The most recent tilt saw the Wings take a 3-0 decision on New Year’s Eve in Detroit, with Johan Franzen, Justin Abdelkader and Jiri Hudler scoring for the good guys and Jim Howard pitching the shutout.

BEST NAME NOMINEE
B.J. Crombeen. Duh.

‘MEMBA ME?
No former Wings on the Blues.

OH, HI AGAIN
According to THE CHART, Ty Conklin is the only former member of the Blues on the Wings roster.

THE LINEUP
Franzen-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi
Filppula-Zetterberg-Hudler
Miller-Helm-Cleary
Emmerton-Abdelkader-Holmstrom

Lidstrom-White
Kronwall-Ericsson
Commodore-Stuart

Howard (starting)
Conklin

SCRATCHES
Kindl
Mursak
Eaves (face)

The TPL Name Game “Three Stars”
Just like last season, submit your nickname suggestions (follow the theme!), and we’ll use our Facebook page to allow people to vote for the best… the winner gets a free TPL t-shirt!
PETRELLA: Dr. “Looks Like His Optometrist Has A Sense Of Humor” Rahmani
STEVIE: Studyin’
HOLLIS:  Jiri “He Could Be One Of These Guys That Cruises the Internet” Hudler
DISCH: Jiri “We’ve Been Over, And Over, And Over This, First You Say You Can’t Commit, And Then…” Hudler

5 HOLE
:: It’s been noted over and over again, but the Central Division is a total clusterfuck right now. Four teams over 60 points…and Columbus. The Wings and Blues are in an absolute dogfight for the top spot right now, with Chicago and Nashville lurking back like Ryan Kesler in a postgame interview. A Wings win in regulation tonight puts them squarely in the lead of the division, despite having played one more game than St. Louis. A loss, and the Wings fall a point back of the Blues with St. Louis still holding that game-in-hand advantage. OT or shootout? Well,…forget it. Too many numbers. We’ll shoot first and ask questions later.
:: On top of being an incredibly important game for division positioning, the Wings have that whole 16 game winning streak at the Joe on the line again. I’ll be honest: If there’s a game where it’s likely to come to an end, it’s tonight. That pains me to say, but honesty is a virtue. So are superstitions. *Knocks on wood, throws salt over the shoulder, spins three times.*
:: Who’s been effective for Detroit this year against the Blues? Try Jiri Hudler. Scuttles has 2 goals and 3 points against the Notes in four matchups, as well as a +2 rating. Kronwall and Datsyuk also have 3 points against St. Louis, so look for them to be active.
:: For the Blues, it’s been the Jaroslav Halak show. Dude is 11-0-3 over his last 14 starts and has pitched three doughnuts in his last five games. Respect, because that’s just filthy.
:: It’s also worth noting that Alex Pietrangelo is cruising along on a nine game point streak. He’ll get the more reserved “Somebody cover this guy” for tonight’s game.