Time: 10:00 PM ET
Place: Honda Center
TV: BSD, BSW
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Ducks Blog: Anaheim Calling
The Wings’ west coast adventure continues tonight. So make sure you have your early-evening coffee, pop, or… why not… Red Bull Vodkas to get you through this showdown.
Detroit will be looking to rebound after three straight losses dampened an otherwise solid start to the season. Score-wise, their 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday looked like an improvement from last week’s 8-2 debacle against the Rangers. But the game featured too many of those five-minute pockets of play where the Wings just… forget how to play hockey. Give the team credit for tightening things up in the third and rallying to make it a game, but we’re definitely hoping to see a more complete 60-minute performance tonight.
On the other side of the ice, the Wings are facing an Anaheim Ducks team that very much seems to be embracing the tank at the moment. The Ducks are 4-10-1, tied with Columbus for the worst record in the league, and beyond strong starts for Troy Terry (6 G, 13 A) and Trevor Zegras (7 G, 6 A), the Ducks roster is slim pickin’s at the moment.
Perhaps the biggest storyline tonight? The return of Tyler Bertuzzi. He practiced yesterday, and Derek Lalonde said he should be good to get his first game action since October 15th. With Detroit’s offense still a little lukewarm, Bertuzzi’s return should provide a big spark, and perhaps open up some space to get Lucas Raymond going on the other side of that top line.